During the incumbent government's term, the efficiency of the absorption of EU pre-accession funds has increased from 37% to 70%, Deputy Prime Minister and European Funds Minister Branko Grcic said at the cabinet session on Thursday.
Over the past year, a total of EUR 200 million have been made available to Croatia from EU pre-accession funds, while in the period before that a total of EUR250 million were absorbed over a period of three years. This year the government expects a record payment of EUR 210 million.
According to Grcic, progress was made in the Agriculture and Rural Development Plan (IPARD) where the efficiency rose from 15% to 50%.
At its session on Thursday, the government endorsed a report on the absorption of EU pre-accession assistance funds for the period from 1 July to 31 December 2012, which includes key data on the implementation of all components of the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) programme.
According to the report, in the said period, the European Commission allocated a total of EUR 60.6 million to Croatia, compared to EUR 20.3 million in H1 2012.
