Fast track funding - a bailout in disguise?

The European Parliament is scheduled today to simplify the use of EU structural funds for countries worst hit by the crisis, writes Dziennik Gazeta Prawna. Billions of euros should soon flow to Romania and Hungary, as well as the Baltic states. As the Warsaw daily points out, the operation resembles the Greek bailout plan although no one in Brussels is making the analogy. Under the old rules, states had to submit projects for approval and also to co-finance them, something which new members states fared poorly at. In 2009, net transfers to Romania reached a mere €1.5bn, just 1.2 percent of the country’s national income. The situation was even worse in Hungary where this amounted to just 1.15 percent. Now, Central Europe is due to receive fast track aid in the form of advance payments of 2 to 4 percent on the €347bn designated for the 2007-2013 funds. Also, beneficiaries will no longer be required to co-finance projects entirely, with funding for projects deemed valauable for economic development increased from 75 to 100 percent.