KDH: Slovakia Not Using Money from ESF Effectively Enough

Bratislava, March 17 (TASR) - Slovakia is not using resources from the European Social Fund (ESF) well enough, as although there are almost 20 national projects to be financed under ESF in the pipeline, their level of effectiveness remains questionable, opposition Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) MP Andrea Turcanova warned on Monday. "If you check the website of the Labour Ministry or anywhere else, you'll learn that Slovakia has almost 20 national projects financed under the ESF. However, it is questionable how effective they are in my view. Let's put it honestly: we've been reliant on this European money for 20 years, but we haven't really adopted any systemic measures," said Turcanova. The MP referred in this context to a project involving food and hygiene packages, to which €63.5 million was allocated in the new programme period. The packages are aimed at helping people in poverty and single parents living below the subsistence level, but no packages have been delivered to them to this day, said Turcanova. According to MEP Miriam Lexmann (KDH), efforts to preserve ESF as a standalone fund have met with success in the European Parliament. "There has been strong pressure on the part of the European Commission and many member states to merge European funds in some way into a single fund that will be used to support defence capabilities and the competitiveness of the EU," she said, adding that a report on the future of ESF stresses that more money will go directly to the regions instead. mf/df