Brussels - EU finance ministers endorsed another four national recovery and resilience plans on Monday, including Slovenia's, which the European Commission approved at the beginning of the month. A formal confirmation in writing will follow shortly.

The ministers endorsed today the plans of Slovenia, Croatia, Cyprus and Lithuania. The first dozen plans were confirmed in mid-July, including that of Portugal, Spain, Greece, Denmark, Luxembourg, Austria, Slovakia, Latvia, Germany, Italy, Belgium and France.

When the Council of the EU approves a national plan, the European Commission signs an agreement on the financing with the country and 13% of the funds are transferred to it within two months.

In Slovenia's case this amounts to EUR 231 million of the EUR 2.5 billion plan.

Asked when Slovenia would receive the first funds, Finance Minister Andrej Šircelj told the press today that the deadline was in 60 days. He said he wished it happened as soon as possible, but that the money would arrive in September at the latest.

Executive Vice President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis said countries could expect the first funds in the coming weeks, some in the coming days. He said a lot depended on national procedures.

He said that most probably all the required funding for the pre-financing would be secured so that there would be no need for the pro rata principle.

Some funds will be transferred in the summer, some in the autumn, depending on the closing of the agreements on the financing, he said.

Slovenia's Development and EU Cohesion Policy Minister Zvonko Černač stressed that there was not a lot of time to implement reforms and carry out the planned investments, so good cooperation and compromises among stakeholders would be crucial.

He said ministries would publish the first calls for applications this year, and that pre-payments could be expected in August or September.

Slovenia has until the end of 2026 to carry out the planned investments and reforms from the national plan. "The implementation of the planned reforms will be a precondition for the paying out of the funds. There is not much time," Černač said in a press release.

State Secretary Monika Kirbiš Rojs, who was in charge of the preparation of the national plans, also stressed the importance of cooperation for achieving the set goals.

"Today's confirmation of the key development document is a victory in of the most demanding phases on the path to recovery and strengthening of resilience of the Slovenian society," she said.

The Finance Ministry will from now on coordinate the implementation of the plan, which envisages almost EUR 1.8 billion in grants and more than EUR 700 million in loans for Slovenia's green transition, digital transformation, support to the economy, research and development, education, healthcare, social protection and housing policy.

More than 42% of the funds or almost EUR 1.054 billion will go for climate goals, which is almost 4% more than envisaged by the relevant EU decree. Slovenia will allocate 21% of the funds or EUR 532.75 million for digital goals.

Černač said that the use of cohesion funds in the 2021-2027 period, which will complement the recovery funds, would need to be carefully planned and combined. The process of programming should be concluded at the end of the year, and the strategic documents could start to be implemented in the second half of next year, he said.

The Commission has so far borrowed EUR 45 billion to finance the post-pandemic recovery. Another EUR 100 billion loan is expected by the end of the year, which is to cover for all the financial needs of EU countries in this period.

The Commission has so far endorsed 18 national plans, including that of Ireland and the Czech Republic, which however were not discussed today.

So far, 25 countries have submitted their plans. The Netherlands and Bulgaria are yet to do so.

Hungary's and Poland's plans are yet to be evaluated by the Commission, but this was also not discussed by the ministers today, said Šircelj, who chaired the meeting.

The two countries have been criticised for violations of the rule of law.