Council of the EU approves fifth amendment to Slovenia's Recovery and Resilience Plan

SLOVENIA, April 28 - The Slovenian Government submitted the proposed amendment to the European Commission (EC) with the aim of maximising the use of available funds and ensuring the timely submission of the final two payment requests. The amendment has been prepared in a way that enables the implementation of the remaining reforms and investments within the required timeframe.

Slovenia can access the available funds until the end of 2026. To date, it has received the first seven grant instalments and three loan instalments. The milestones and targets for the eighth grant instalment are currently under assessment by the EC.

The total amount of available grants under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) remains unchanged at EUR 1.61 billion following the fifth amendment. However, the total amount of loans is reduced by EUR 56.75 million (from EUR 525.59 million to EUR 468.84 million). The number of measures remains unchanged at 84, including 36 reforms and 48 investments, linked to a total of 181 milestones and targets.

The fifth amendment adjusts the indicative timelines for completing certain investments, either shortening or extending their implementation deadlines.

Following the fifth amendment, the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) maintains its overall level of ambition, as well as measures contributing to green and digital objectives. It allocates 44% of funds to green objectives (previously 45%) and maintains 24% for digital objectives.

The fifth amendment to the RRP includes adjustments to 16 measures. Financial adjustments are made to investments that can no longer be implemented within the RRP programming period due to objective circumstances. This increases the available funding for certain investments while reducing the total amount of loans. The financial changes relate to the following investments:

• Flood risk reduction – EUR 61.39 million in grants (unchanged) and EUR 111.49 million in loans (previously EUR 115.66 million), as the remediation of the Stovž landslide near Log pod Mangartom cannot be carried out within the plan's timeframe. Construction measures at the site will be carried out in 2026, with completion expected by the end of the year, and will be financed from the state budget.
• Energy efficiency and decarbonisation of the economy – EUR 16.91 million in grants (previously EUR 29.54 million). The remaining funds are reallocated to the measure "Promoting alternative fuels infrastructure in transport" under the REPowerEU chapter.
• Strengthening the electricity distribution network (medium- and low-voltage networks) – EUR 47.43 million in grants (previously EUR 40 million). The difference reflects the discontinuation of planned loan financing for this investment.
• Promoting the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure in transport under the REPowerEU chapter – EUR 57.83 million in grants (previously EUR 52.63 million). Co-financing is increased to support 7,348 zero-emission vehicles (previously 6,413 vehicles).
• Increasing the railway infrastructure capacity – EUR 216.30 million in grants (unchanged) and EUR 76.31 million in loans (previously EUR 124.71 million). The difference is due to the project "Upgrade of the railway line on the sections Bled Jezero–Bohinjska Bela and Bohinjska Bela–Nomenj", which cannot be carried out within the RRP timeframe.Further greening of educational infrastructure in Slovenia – EUR 61.34 million in loans (previously EUR 58.09 million). Co-financing for the construction of new premises for the Veterinary Faculty of the University of Ljubljana is increased due to significantly higher estimated investment costs.

To date, Slovenia has received EUR 1.77 billion, representing 85% of the available funds, including EUR 1.3 billion in grants and EUR 0.47 billion in loans. It has formally achieved 107 milestones and targets. An additional 15 are currently under review by the EC as part of the sixth payment request, submitted to Brussels at the end of March. The remaining milestones and targets will be included in the final payment request.

The state has already paid more than EUR 1.44 billion to the final recipients for the implemented project activities. Of approximately 1,400 projects planned across all Slovenian regions, more than 500 have been fully completed.