Ljubljana - Slovenian Finance Minister Andrej Šircelj expects that the first transfers from the EU's recovery fund will be made during Portugal's EU presidency in the first half of this year, as member states including Slovenia are rushing to ratify the legal basis and draw up national recovery plans.

"We'll hurry up as best as we can so that this project regarding the entire recovery package commences as soon as possible," Šircelj told Slovenian reporters after an online session of EU finance ministers.

The European Commission has urged member states to promptly ratify the legal basis for the financing and prepare national plan for the phasing of EUR 750 billion in recovery funding.

Šircelj said the details of the Slovenian plan were in the purview of Zvone Černač, the minister in charge of development and cohesion policy, but noted that the rules were the same for all countries and that it was necessary to pursue the objectives set by the Commission.

As for the ratification of the legal basis, called the Own Resources Decision, he said it was difficult to give a precise data but that efforts were under way to achieve that as soon as possible.

Unofficial information indicates ratification by the National Assembly is planned in March.

The Commission expects member states to submit their national recovery plans after the resilience and recovery mechanism is implemented, presumably in the second half of February.

The Commission will then have two months to analyse the national recovery plans, whereupon the Council will have a month to confirm the plans.

Member states are expected to channel the funds into projects concerning the green and digital transitions, economic cohesion and competitiveness, social cohesion, crisis response and readiness, and policies targeting youths and children.