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EU Commission Won't Seek Termination of Payment If Reasons Are Justified
Thursday 11 February 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, February 11 (TASR) - Head of the European Commission's Directorate General for Regional Policy (DG Regio) Dirk Ahner said Thursday he would expect Slovakia to justify the delays in the implementation of European directives and in allowing the public to participate in the proceedings greenlighting select projects otherwise the country will forfeit EU funds.
The problem arose when motorway construction was put above the rights of the public to co-decide on their living environments when measures were approved to speed up motorway construction back in 2007, as Ahner recently wrote to Slovakia's ambassador to the EU Ivan Korcok.
The Environment Ministry said that the drawing of eurofunds is not in danger. "The ministry is doing its utmost to align national legislation with European Union directives within a set deadline," namely May this year.
At its special session Thursday, the Slovak Government approved an amendment to the law on Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), which should give the general public a bigger say in decision-making.
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