In autumn 2015, our experts evaluated how the investments of the EU, the State and the municipalities amounting to nearly 500 million EUR in 494 projects administered by the State Regional Development Agency correspond to public interests, and the importance of these investments in municipal work. Opinions of municipality representatives were collected during five regional forums and through an electronic survey.
In general, participants of planning region expert forums and survey highly evaluated these investments and appreciated their positive impact on the development of municipalities and in meeting people needs. They also pointed out that municipalities could only cover the costs of infrastructure maintenance or small repair works on their own and revealed that municipalities have been able to undertake large infrastructure improvement works only thanks to the EU funds. Overall, the financing was allocated to road repair works, building and restoring kindergartens, schools, culture centres, and libraries. The urban setting was upgraded by improving tourism services and addressing issues related to entrepreneurial environment in municipalities, as well as by building public Internet access points. Another aspect mentioned by the participants was the contribution of the financing in attracting new specialists to the municipality and revision or drafting of municipal planning documents.
The conclusions have been collected in an information summary on the results of European Social Fund and European Regional Development Fund activities administered by the State Regional Development Agency in the EU funds programming period 2007–2013. This summary also includes many examples of the projects implemented.
