The municipalities were eventually told to apply for project funding in the next financial perspective. However, this may not be very easy to do. Alenka Smrkolj, the Slovenian minister for strategic projects, attempted to provide the mayors gathered at Ljubljana's city hall with some answers to their questions.

The previous government assured the projects would be endorsed, claiming that the municipalities only need to wait to receive the papers. However, responsibility can no longer be claimed from the government in question, since it has already been replaced by a new one. From the eleven projects applied for EU financing, ten are now left. Even if the project is approved in Brussels, the municipality will not be able to start it before autumn.

Other projects which have already obtained all approvals and are ready to start, are facing a similarly uncertain future since starting the work on these projects could be a double-edged sword, warns Vladimir Prebilič, the mayor of the Kočevje municipality. Complications may arise if the applications needed to be revised and re-submitted, which could potentially mean that tenders would need to be repeated and contractors re-selected, increasing the possibility of lawsuits since old contracts are legally binding. If projects fail to be approved, the financial stability of municipalities may be undermined, too.

A fact worth noting is that the majority of these projects are related to water supply and protection. Failing to build this infrastructure on time would mean breaking European legislation and potential fines.

M. V., Radio Slovenia; translated by K. Z.