The financial assistance from EU structural and investment funds for CEE could become a stimulus similar to the Marshall plan for Western Europe after World War II. The total budget for the cohesion policy 2014-2020 which is implemented by the European structural and investment funds was already fixed in December 2013. The amount for 2014-2020 reaches EUR 351.9 bn in current prices and is 1.3 % higher than in 2007-2013.
CEE-6 (Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia) with earmarked EUR 167.1 bn. will get about half of the total cake. Comparing with 2007-2013 period it is 11 % more. In the best case scenario the effective utilisation of this huge amount of money will raise the economic and social potential of CEE countries on the completely upper level, and the difference between the Western and Eastern member states in the EU will slowly come close to the end.
For complete information, please see the attached documents.
