European Commission issues positive preliminary assessment of Slovenia’s fifth payment request

SLOVENIA, March 2 - The European Commission assessed that Slovenia has satisfactorily fulfilled all 16 milestones and targets associated with the fifth payment request, enabling the maximum possible disbursement.

The more significant milestones and targets achieved under the fifth payment request include the entry into force of pension legislation, adaptations to the legislative framework to strengthen the resilience of the healthcare system, the construction of the training centre in Sežana for the training of civil protection and disaster relief units in wildfire response, the reconstruction of 49 kilometres of railway lines, and the introduction of a central digital archive for medical imaging in nine public healthcare institutions.

On this occasion, Minister of Finance Klemen Boštjančič welcomed the European Commission’s confirmation that the milestones linked to several key reforms under Slovenia’s Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) had been successfully fulfilled. "The European Commission has confirmed that Slovenia has successfully completed two further key reforms that are a prerequisite for the disbursement of the available European funds. The entry into force of the amendment to pension legislation brings a more stable and fair pension system. With the aim of ensuring a more resilient healthcare system, amendments to the legislative framework were also adopted, providing better conditions for ensuring the quality and sustainability of the healthcare system. In this context, the Healthcare Quality Assurance Act was adopted, introducing the fundamental principles of quality and safety management in healthcare, and the Public Agency for Healthcare Quality of the Republic of Slovenia was established," said the Minister, adding that 33 of the 36 reforms under the Recovery and Resilience Plan have now been fully implemented. The milestones linked to the remaining three reforms will form part of the next two payment requests.

The European Commission will now transmit its preliminary assessment of the payment request to the Economic and Financial Committee, which will issue its opinion. The Commission will subsequently adopt its final assessment and issue a decision formally approving the disbursement of the seventh instalment of non-repayable funds, in the expected amount of EUR 230.69 million, under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (the Facility).

The gross value of the fifth payment request amounted to EUR 266.84 million. However, the net disbursement will be proportionately adjusted to take account of the pre-financing of non-repayable funds received by Slovenia at the start of the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan in 2021.

Following the receipt of funds under the fifth payment request, Slovenia will have received EUR 1.77 billion, or 82.7 per cent of the funding available under the Facility, including EUR 1.3 billion in grants and EUR 0.47 billion in loans. In total, 107 milestones and targets will have been formally fulfilled, representing 59.11 per cent of the 181 milestones and targets set out in the Plan.

Slovenia plans to submit two further payment requests this year for the remaining available funds – one expected in the spring and the other no later than 30 September 2026, which is the official deadline for submitting the final payment requests. The European Commission will make the final disbursements by 31 December 2026.

To date, the State has paid EUR 1.36 billion to final recipients for completed project activities. A wide range of activities supporting the digital and green transition has already been implemented. A total of 1,390 projects across Slovenia have been engaged in the implementation of investments, 414 of which have already been completed.