Brussels/Ljubljana - The European Commission confirmed on Saturday it has officially received Slovenia's recovery and resilience plan, which specifies reforms and public investments projects the country intends to implement with support of the EU recovery and resilience mechanism.

The Slovenian plan is structured around four priority pillars: green transition; digital transformation; smart, sustainable and inclusive growth; health and welfare including investments and reforms in long-term care and social housing.

The projects included in the plan will be implemented by 2026, when the mechanism expires. In the document, Slovenia proposes projects in all seven European priority areas, the European Commission Representation in Slovenia said in a press release.

As the Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy said on Friday as it announced the plan has been sent to the Commission, Minister Zvone Černač expressed the expectation that it would be confirmed in the next three months.

Out of the EUR 2.5 billion available under Slovenia's plan, 43% or more than EUR 1 billion is intended for green goals and 20% or more than EUR 330 million for digital goals.

The remaining two areas are smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, in which almost EUR 750 million is planned to be invested, and healthcare and social security, which is to get EUR 364 million.

"No one will be left aside and no part of Slovenia will be neglected," says the plan adopted by the government on Wednesday.

As the plan envisages the use of all EUR 1.8 billion in grants, and EUR 666 million out of the EUR 3.6 billion in available loans, the government has rejected the criticism that it is giving up on the entire potential available to Slovenia.

Černač noted that the conditions for borrowing as part of the mechanism were not known yet, and that it was not known whether loans would be more favourable than they are today.

Confirming the reception of Slovenia's plan, European Commission President Ursula van der Leyen said in Twitter that the plan was "oriented towards the future: green and digital transition; smart, sustainable and inclusive growth; health and welfare of all".

The European Commission also said today that the recovery and resilience plans received so far, including from Slovenia, were the result of intensive dialogue with the authorities of the respective countries conducted in recent months.

It will assess the plans in the next two months based on 11 criteria and integrate the content into legally binding acts. The EU Council will then have four weeks available to decide whether to confirm the Commission's proposal.

The Commission added that approval by the EU Council would enable Slovenia to pay out 13% of the requested EUR 1.8 billion in grants and EUR 0.7 billion in loans under the condition that the decision on the Own Resources system, which needed to be approved by all member states, enters into force.