The Commission has no doubt that Slovenia, which used all cohesion funds allocated to it in the 2007-2013 period, will do the same in the current period, said the Slovenian member of the European Commission.

By the end of August this year 70% of funds had been earmarked via financing decisions, while 18.8% of the available funds had been paid out, Bulc's office said.

In transport, Slovenia has drawn its cohesion funds as part of the Connecting Europe Facility, the office added.

Bulc meanwhile said that "I have been informed that the Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy will submit another EUR 200m-worth of payment claims by the end of 2018. And funds drawing can continue until 2023".

Her statement comes after Slovenia's member of the European Court of Auditors Samo Jereb warned last week that Slovenia had so far failed to use any EU structural and investment fund financing for 2017.

Handing the court's annual report to parliamentary Speaker Dejan Židan, Jereb said that Slovenia was one of 10 EU members with such a record in the fourth year of the 2014-2020 financial framework.

"A major effort will be necessary here to improve things and to use the funds by the time the financial framework expires. If we look at the total use, Slovenia is among the five poorest performing member states at the end of 2017 with regard to the phasing of all EU funds," Jereb said.