COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Environmental Implementation Review 2022 Country Report - SLOVAKIA Accompanying the document Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions Environmental Implementation Review 2022: Turning the tide through environmental compliance
Date: 2022-09-08
Institutions: Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission
Subjects: EU environmental policy, Slovakia, application of EU law, biodiversity, circular economy, climate change policy, environmental law, governance, pollution control measures, waste management

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 8.9.2022  SWD(2022) 252 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Environmental Implementation Review 2022      Country Report - SLOVAKIA             Accompanying the document Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions Environmental Implementation Review 2022: Turning the tide through environmental compliance {COM(2022) 438 final} - {SWD(2022) 253 final} - {SWD(2022) 254 final} - {SWD(2022) 255 final} - {SWD(2022) 256 final} - {SWD(2022) 257 final} - {SWD(2022) 258 final} - {SWD(2022) 259 final} - {SWD(2022) 260 final} - {SWD(2022) 261 final} - {SWD(2022) 262 final} - {SWD(2022) 263 final} - {SWD(2022) 264 final} - {SWD(2022) 265 final} - {SWD(2022) 266 final} - {SWD(2022) 267 final} - {SWD(2022) 268 final} - {SWD(2022) 269 final} - {SWD(2022) 270 final} - {SWD(2022) 271 final} - {SWD(2022) 272 final} - {SWD(2022) 273 final} - {SWD(2022) 274 final} - {SWD(2022) 275 final} - {SWD(2022) 276 final} - {SWD(2022) 277 final} - {SWD(2022) 278 final}  
 
 
Slovakia  1 

This  report  has  been  written  by  the  staff  of  the  Directorate-General  for  Environment,  European  Commission. 
Any comments are welcome to the following e-mail address: ENV-EIR@ec.europa.eu  

More information on the European Union is available on the internet (https://europa.eu). 

Photographs:  

For reproduction or use of these photos, permission must be sought directly from the copyright holder. 

©European Union, 2022 

Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Slovakia  2 

Table of Contents 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................................... 3 

PART I: THEMATIC AREAS ...................................................................................................................................... 4 

1. CIRCULAR ECONOMY AND WASTE MANAGEMENT ....................................................................................................... 4 
Measures towards a circular economy ................................................................................................................ 4 
Waste management ............................................................................................................................................. 6 
2. BIODIVERSITY AND NATURAL CAPITAL .................................................................................................................... 10 
Nature protection and restoration ..................................................................................................................... 10 
Ecosystem assessment and accounting ............................................................................................................. 16 
3. ZERO POLLUTION .............................................................................................................................................. 19 
Clean air ............................................................................................................................................................. 19 
Industrial emissions ............................................................................................................................................ 21 
Major industrial accidents prevention – SEVESO ............................................................................................... 23 
Noise .................................................................................................................................................................. 24 
Water quality and management ........................................................................................................................ 24 
Chemicals ........................................................................................................................................................... 29 
4. CLIMATE ACTION .............................................................................................................................................. 31 
Key national climate policies and strategies ...................................................................................................... 31 
Effort-sharing target .......................................................................................................................................... 32 
Key sectoral developments ................................................................................................................................. 32 
Use of revenues from the auctioning of EU ETS allowances .............................................................................. 33 

PART II: ENABLING FRAMEWORK: IMPLEMENTATION TOOLS .............................................................................. 35 

5. FINANCING ...................................................................................................................................................... 35 
Environmental investment needs in the European Union .................................................................................. 35 
EU environmental funding 2014-2020 ............................................................................................................... 38 
EU environmental funding 2021-2027 ............................................................................................................... 39 
National environmental protection expenditure ................................................................................................ 41 
Green budget tools ............................................................................................................................................. 43 
Overall financing compared to the needs .......................................................................................................... 45 
6. ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE ........................................................................................................................... 46 
Information, public participation and access to justice...................................................................................... 46 
Compliance assurance ........................................................................................................................................ 48 
Effectiveness of environmental administrations ................................................................................................ 49 
Reforms through the Commission’s Technical Support Instrument (TSI) ........................................................... 50 
TAIEX EIR peer to peer projects .......................................................................................................................... 50 

 Environmental Implementation Review 2022 – Slovakia 

 
 
 
 
 
Slovakia  3 

Executive summary 

The  main  challenges  identified  in  past  Environmental 
to 
Implementation  Reports 
implementation  of  EU  environmental  policy  and  law  by 
Slovakia were:  

(EIRs)  with 

regard 

 

 

 

 

 

to 
improve  waste  management,  particularly  by 
increasing recycling, rolling-out separate collection of 
waste and reducing landfilling;  
to complete  the  Natura 2000 network and to  reduce  
the  pressures  on  nature  ecosystems,  in  particular  on 
forest and on water bodies;  
to  improve  air  quality  in  critical  regions  and    the 
quality  of  monitoring,  and  to  roll  out  scheme  for 
exchanging household boilers to improve air quality;  
infrastructure 
to  complete  the  environmental 
water and  waste water management sectors; and 
to advance the phase-out of environmentally harmful 
subsidies to brown coal. 

in 

Slovakia  is  still  facing  a  serious  implementation  gap  in 
almost all environmental sectors and is underperforming 
in the transition to a resource-efficient economy. 

A poor  performance in waste management, with strong 
dependence  on  landfilling  of  municipal  waste,  remains 
the  main  concern.  A  full  assessment  is  pending,  but 
Slovakia continues to be at risk of not meeting the 2020 
likely 
municipal  waste  recycling  target,  and  most 
forthcoming  targets  too.  Slovakia’s  recycling  rate  has 
been growing since 2015; however the steep increase in 
2014-2017 was mainly due to statistical adjustments. 

Slovakia  has  one  of  the  largest  Natura  2000  networks, 
but  biodiversity  continues  to  be  under  pressure.  There 
are  still  gaps  in  designation  of  sites  and  adoption  of 
management  plans.  Nature  protection  and    forestry  law 
have  been  amended  since  2020  and  nature  protection 
reform  was  launched  in  2022  to  address  the  negative 
impacts  from  forestry  and  logging  in  protected  areas; 
however, its application is yet to be evaluated. Regarding 
the  conservation  status  of  habitats  and  species,  there 
were  no  major  changes  for  habitats.  Meanwhile,  the 
share  of  species  in  both  good  and  bad  conservation 
status increased slightly, due to improved knowledge.  

In the air sector, Slovakia still needs to reduce emissions 
from  the  burning  of  solid  fuel  in  homes  and  from 
agriculture,  transport  and  industry.  Slovakia  projects  to 
reach  emission  reduction  commitments  for  all  air 
pollutants  except  ammonia.  Persistent  breaches  of  air 
quality  limits  for  particulate  matter  continue  to  cause 
serious health risks for the Slovak people.  

Despite  the  progress  achieved,  it  is  not  clear  if  this  is 
sufficient  to  achieve  good  water  status  of  water  bodies 

the 

intensity  of 

by 2027. The south-western part of the country is one of 
the  biggest  sources  of  drinking  water  in  Central  Europe 
and 
is 
comparatively  low,  but  there  are  impacts  from  old 
environmental burdens. Grievances linked to small water 
hydro-plants are unsolved. Furthermore, the  completion 
of urban waste water infrastructure is pending.  

freshwater  abstraction 

EU financing continues to provide substantial support for 
the  environmental  implementation  gap,  and  Slovakia  is 
due  to  receive  EUR  6.3  billion  in  grants  under  its 
Recovery and Resilience plan (RRP) in 2021-2026 and EUR 
12.3  billion  under  the  cohesion  policy  in  2021-2027. 
Slovakia’s environmental financing for investments came 
to 1.12% of GDP (EU average: 0.7%) in 2014-2020, relying 
both  on  EU  funding  and  national  sources.  The  overall 
environmental 
investment  needs  for  2021-2027  are 
estimated  to  reach  at  least  1.46%  of  GDP,  indicating  an 
additional  financing  need  (gap)  of  over  0.33%  of  the 
country’s GDP for environmental implementation.  

Although  several  measures  included  in  the  national  RRP 
positively  contributed  to  the  attainment  of  the  37% 
climate  target,  in  a  number  of  cases  these  were  long 
over-due.  Additional  reforms  and 
investments  are 
therefore  needed  from  other  EU  funding  (especially 
cohesion  funds)  and  national  sources  to  to  close  the 
implementation  gap  and  to  meet  the  objectives  of  the 
European Green Deal (EGD). 

to 

  break  with 

in  the  RRP,  and 

include:  phasing  out  EHSs 

Slovakia has to take urgent action to implement fully the 
its  poor 
measures 
performance  record  in  the  absorption  of  EU  funds. 
Priorities 
lignite; 
construction  and  demolition  waste  reform,  the  boiler 
replacement  scheme  and  reform  on  landscape  planning 
and  on  nature  protection  and  water  management. 
Additional investments are needed  while investments to 
potentially  stranded  assets  are  to  be  avoided, 
like 
mechanical-biological  treatment  (MBTs)  or  waste-to-
for 
energy 
renewable energy sources (RES) is compliant with the 'do 
no  significant  harm'  (DNSH)  principle.  Finally,  the 
enhanced  use  of  economic 
instruments  to  make 
polluters pay is relevant for number of sectors.  

facilities  and  to  ensure  that  support 

The  environmental  governance  framework  remains 
unstable. Although some legislative acts improved public 
participation  and  access  to  justice,  it  seems  that  these 
improvements  will  not  sustain.  For  example,  a  new 
reform  of  the  permitting  system  was  adopted,  which, 
subject  to  further  assessment,  might  lower  the  level  of 
environmental protection. 

Environmental Implementation Review 2022 – Slovakia 

 
 
Slovakia  4 

Part I: Thematic Areas 

1. Circular economy and waste management 

Figure 1: Circular material use rate (%), 2010-20201 

Resource  productivity  expresses  how  efficiently  the 
economy  uses  material  resources  to  produce  wealth. 
Improving  resource  productivity  can  help  to  minimise 
impacts  on  the  environment  and  reduce 
negative 
dependency on volatile raw  material  markets. As  shown 
in  Figure  2,  with  EUR  1.34  generated  per  kg  of  material 
consumed  in  2020,  resource  productivity  in  Slovakia  is 
well below the EU average of EUR 2.09 per kg. 

Figure 2: Resource productivity 2010-20202 

Measures towards a circular economy 

The new Circular Economy Action Plan adopted in March 
2020 is one of the main building blocks of the European 
Green Deal. The EU’s transition to a circular economy will 
reduce  pressure  on  natural  resources  and  will  create 
sustainable  growth  and  jobs.  It  is  also  a  prerequisite  to 
achieve  the  EU’s  2050  climate  neutrality  target  and  to 
halt  biodiversity 
loss.  The  Action  Plan  announces 
initiatives  along  the  entire  life  cycle  of  products,  aiming 
to reduce the EU's consumption footprint and to double 
the EU's circular material use rate by 2030. It targets how 
products  are  designed,  promotes  circular  economy 
processes,  encourages  sustainable  consumption,  and 
aims to ensure that waste is prevented and the resources 
used are kept in the EU economy for as long as possible.  

The  circular  material  use  rate  is  a  good  indicator  of  an 
economy’s circularity, as it includes all the materials that 
are  fed  back  into  our  economy.  Large  differences  in  the 
circularity rate exist across countries. To help achieve the 
EU  Circular  Economy  Action  Plan’s  goal  of  doubling  the 
EU  circular  material  use  rate  by  2030,  ambitious 
measures  targeting  the  whole  product  life  cycle  are 
needed  at  Member  States’  level.  Such  measures  range 
from  sustainable  product  design  to  increase  durability, 
reparability,  upgradability  and  recyclability  of  products, 
increasing 
to  other  measures 
like  remanufacturing, 
circularity 
in  production  processes,  recycling,  and 
boosting  eco-innovation  and  increasing  the  uptake  of 
green public procurement. 

Slovakia’s  circular  (secondary)  use  of  material  was  4.8% 
in 2014 and 6.4% in 2020, compared with the EU average 
of 12.8% in 2020. Slovakia is therefore well below the EU 
average and the pace of its performance  increase is still 
slow. 

1 Eurostat, Circular Economy Monitoring Framework  
2 Eurostat, Resource productivity 

Environmental Implementation Review 2022 – Slovakia 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Circular economy strategies  

Eco-innovation 

Slovakia  5 

The  Commission  encourages  Member  States  to  adopt 
and 
implement  national/regional  circular  economy 
strategies covering the whole life cycle of products. Such 
strategies are one of the most effective ways to progress 
towards a more circular economy at Member State level. 
Since  the  launch  of  the  European  Circular  Economy 
Stakeholder Platform in 20173, national, regional or local 
authorities  have  used  the  platform  to  share  their 
strategies and roadmaps.  

the 

Slovakia  started  with  integration  of  circular  economy 
into  various  strategies4,  with 
principles 
first 
comprehensive  circular  economy  strategy  developed 
finally  in  2022  in  cooperation  with    OECD5    under  the 
Commission’s  Technical  Support  Instrument  (TSI),  called 
‘Closing the Loop in the Slovak Republic’6. It is a roadmap 
towards  circularity  for  competitiveness,  eco-innovation 
and  sustainability  with  more  than  30  concrete  policy 
recommendations supported by an implementation plan 
and  a  monitoring  framework  that  would  need  to  be 
introduced by 2040. Priority areas are food and biowaste, 
the  construction  sector,  sustainable  production  and 
consumption,  and  economic  instruments  as  a  horizontal 
area.  Some  CE  information  platfom  also  exist7  and  first 
examples of methodologies on circular private and public 
procurement are available8. 

included  one  circular  economy-related 
Slovakia  has 
reform  -  on  the  management  of  construction  and 
demolition waste - in its national RRP.  

Slovakia  has  taken  some  first  steps  were  towards 
circularity.  A  fee  for  light  plastic  bags  was  introduced  in 
2018.  The  landfill  fees  were  gradually  increased  since 
2019 and there is a plan to increase the fees further.  As 
of  the  beginning  of  2022,  the  deposit-refund  system  for 
single-use  beverage  packaging  became  operational  and 
Slovakia 
is  among  the  first  EU  Member  States  to 
introduce it9. 

3 Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform 
4 Greener Slovakia - Strategy of the Environmental Policy of the Slovak 
Republic  until  2030,  Vision  and  Sustainable  Development  Strategy  of 
Slovakia  up  to  2030  (hereafter  “Slovakia  2030”,  Economic  Policy 
Strategy 2030 

https://www.oecd.org/environment/waste/highlights-closing-the-

6 
loop-in-the-slovak-republic-roadmap_EN.pdf 
7  Example  is  the  Information  platform  about  the  Green  and  Circular 
Economy: 
Informačná  platforma  zelené  a  obehové  hospodárstvo 
(enviroportal.sk) 
8 
obstaravania-vo-verejnych-a-sukromnych-zakazkach/ 
9  All  you need  to  know  about  the  deposit  system  for  bottles and cans 
(Q&A) - spectator.sme.sk 

https://www.incien.sk/aktuality/metodika-cirkularneho-verejneho-

A  successful  transition  to  a  circular  economy  requires 
social  and  technological  innovation.  The  full  potential  of 
the  circular  economy  can  only  be  reached  when 
implemented  across  all  value  chains.  Therefore,  eco-
innovation is an important enabling factor for the circular 
economy.  Product  design  approaches  and  new  business 
to  produce  systemic  circularity 
models  can  help 
innovations, creating new business opportunities. 

Slovakia  ranked  21st  in  the  list  of  EU  countries  in  the 
2021  Eco-Innovation  Scoreboard  of,  scoring  82  and  it 
belongs to the group of ‘catching up countries’. Slovakia 
performs below the EU average in all components of the 
2021  Eco-innovation  index,  except  for  the  component 
’resource efficiency outcomes‘.   

Figure 3: Eco-innovation performance10 

Green public procurement (GPP) 

Public  procurement  accounts  for  a  large  proportion  of 
European 
authorities’ 
consumption,  with  public 
purchasing power representing 14% of EU GDP. This can 
help  drive  the  demand  for  sustainable  products  that 
meet repairability and recyclability standards. At present,  
reporting to monitor the uptake of GPP is voluntary.  

Slovakia adopted a National Action Plan for Green Public 
Procurement  covering  the  period  2016-2020  period. 

10  European  Commission  -  Directorate-General  for  Environment  (DG 
ENV), Eco-innovation Observatory, Eco-innovation index. 

 Environmental Implementation Review 2022 – Slovakia 

 
 
                                                 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
However, monitoring showed that the strategic objective 
to achieve a 50% share of green contracts in 12 selected 
product groups procured by  public authorities, including 
counties  and  municipalities,  was  not  yet  met.  A  new 
concept  for  development  and  implementation  of  GPP  in 
Slovakia  was  adopted  by  the  government  in  201911,  to 
encourage  ministries 
state 
and 
administration bodies to make more intensive use of the 
GPP12.  The  latest  amendment  to  the  procurement  act 
extended 
in public 
procurement  with  the  environmental  aspect,  with  a  6% 
quota  (to  be  reached  for  both  and/or  separately,  
depending  on  type  of  public  authority)13.  The  Greener 
Slovakia  Strategy  sets  a  long-term  goal  to  achieve,  by 
2030,  70%  of  GPP  for  the  total  value  of  public 
procurement and for the total number of contracts. 

the  mandatory 

social  aspect 

central 

other 

EU Ecolabel and the Eco Management and Audit  
Scheme (EMAS) 

The  number  of  EU  Ecolabel  products  and  EMAS-
licensed14 organisations in a given country provides some 
indication  of  the  extent  to  which  the  private  sector  and 
in  the 
national  stakeholders  are  actively  engaged 
transition  to  a  circular  economy.  It  also  shows  how 
committed  public  authorities  are 
supporting 
instruments designed to promote the circular economy.  

to 

license  registered 

As  of  September  2021,  Slovakia  had  five  products  and 
one 
in  the  EU  Ecolabel  scheme. 
Compared with the EU totals of 83590 products and 2057 
licences, this shows a further decline in what was already 
a  low  take-up15.  53  organisations  from  Slovakia  are 
currently registered in EMAS, the European Commission's 
Eco-Management  and  Audit  Scheme16.  In  this  case, 
Slovakia shows a strong increase compared with the 2019 
report17. 

Although  Slovakia  has  taken  first  steps  in  strengthening 
the  circular  economy  policy  framework,  a  number  of 

11  Concept  for  development  and  implementation  of  GPP  in  Slovakia, 
2019: Legislatívny proces - SLOV-LEX 
12  Following  the  concept,  four  methodologies  for  GPP  were  prepared 
and  adopted  by  the government 
in  2020  and  2021;  these  are 
mandatory for ministries and central administration bodies. 
13 Public Procurement Act, 2021: SLOV-LEX 
14  EMAS  is  the  European  Commission’s  Eco-Management  and  Audit 
Scheme, a programme to encourage organisations to behave in a more 
environmentally sustainable way. 
15 European Commission, Ecolabel Facts and Figures. 
16 As of May 2018. European Commission,  Eco-Management and Audit 
Scheme. 
17 According to the Slovak register, there are 72 organisations currently 
registered in EMAS and 3 organisations with residency in Slovakia that 
are registered under the Germany‘s corporate registration.  

Slovakia  6 

2019  priority  actions  remain  relevant  and  are  retained, 
and a new one on circular material usage is added. 

2022 priority actions 

  Strengthen  the  policy  framework  to  speed  up  the 
transition  towards  the  circular  economy  by  all 
economic  sectors, 
like 
plastics, textiles and construction.  

including  priority  sectors 

  Adopt measures to increase the circular  material use 

rate. 

Waste management 

Turning waste into a resource is supported by:  
(i)  fully 
legislation,  which 
implementing  EU  waste 
includes  the  waste  hierarchy,  the  need  to  ensure 
landfill  diversion 
separate  collection  of  waste,  the 
targets, etc.;  
(ii) reducing waste generation and waste generation per 
capita in absolute terms;  
(iii)  limiting  energy  recovery  to  non-recyclable  materials 
and  phasing  out  landfilling  of  recyclable  or  recoverable 
waste. 

This  section  focuses  on  management  of  municipal 
waste18  for  which  EU  law  sets  mandatory  recycling 
targets. 

resource  efficiency  and 

Preventing products and materials from becoming waste 
for  as  long  as  possible  is  the  most  efficient  way  to 
improve 
the 
environmental  impact  of  waste.  Waste  prevention  and 
re-use are the most preferred options and top the waste 
hierarchy. The amount of municipal waste generated is a 
good  indicator  of  the  effectiveness  of  waste  prevention 
measures.   

reduce 

to 

Although 
generation 
Slovakia’s  municipal  waste 
remained below the EU average in 2020 (433  kg/y/capita 
as against 505 kg/y/capita), there  had been a  significant 
increase  since  2013  (304  kg/y/capita)19,  as  Figure  4 
shows. The first Waste Prevention Programme (WPP) was 
put in place in 2014, but it has had no positive effects in 
reducing  the  levels  of  municipal  waste,  which  can  be 
influenced  by  many  factors  (including  population  and 

18 Municipal waste consists of (a) mixed waste and separately collected 
waste  from  households,  including  paper  and  cardboard,  glass,  metals, 
plastics,  bio-waste,  wood,  textiles,  packaging,  waste  electrical  and 
electronic  equipment,  waste  batteries  and  accumulators,  and  bulky 
waste, 
including  mattresses  and  furniture;  (b)  mixed  waste  and 
separately  collected  waste  from  other  sources,  where  such  waste  is 
similar in nature and composition to waste from households. (Directive 
2008/98/EC, Article 3(2)(b)). 
19 Eurostat - Data Explorer (europa.eu) 

 Environmental Implementation Review 2022 – Slovakia 

 
  
                                                 
                                                 
household  expenditure).  Slovakia’s  waste  generation 
(excluding  major  mineral  waste)  generally  shows  an 
increasing  trend  (except  between  2012  and  2014).  A 
similar  trend  can  be  observed  for  Slovakia’s  GDP, 
that  Slovakia’s 
particularly  after  2016, 
economic  growth 
its 
from 
generation of waste20. 

indicating 
is  not  yet  decoupled 

Figure 4: Municipal waste by treatment in Slovakia, 
2010-202021 

Figure  4  also  shows  municipal  waste  by  treatment,  in 
terms  of  kilos  per  capita.  Although  some  decrease  has 
been  observed  (50%  in  2020  compared  with  66  %  in 
2016), Slovakia still has one of the highest rates in the EU 
for landfilling of municipal waste (EU average in 2020 at 
23%), confirming that managing waste efficiently remains 
an  important  challenge  for  Slovakia.  Also,  although  the 
incineration  rate  is  low  (around  8%  in  2020),  concerns 
exist that the waste will be simply shifted from landfills to 
incinerators,  because  the  development  of  new  energy 
recovery  facilities  is  foreseen  in  the  updated  Waste 
Management Programme (WMP) for 2021-2025. 

Based  on  information  available  to  the  Commission,  a 
significant  number  of  irregular  and  substandard  landfills 
operate  in  Slovakia  and  present  serious  risks  for  human 
health  and  the  environment.  Studies  and  investigations 
launched by the European Commission found that, in all 
111 landfills operating in Slovakia, waste is not subject to 
appropriate  treatment  as  these  do  not  have  sufficient 
installations to ensure the selection of different  types of 

20  Slovakia  Waste  Prevention  Country  Profile  2021  —  European 
Environment Agency (europa.eu) 
21 Eurostat, Municipal waste by waste operation, April 2022. 

Slovakia  7 

installations  for  treatment  of  waste 

waste. Also, Slovakia did not correctly transpose the pre-
treatment  obligation  into  its national  legislation  and the 
is 
network  of 
insufficient.  Therefore, 
the 
Commission  initiated  an  infringement  procedure  against 
Slovakia for failing to comply with the Landfill Directive22 
and the Waste Framework Directive23, 24. 

in  November  2021, 

infringement  procedure25  against 
Furthermore,  an 
Slovakia  is  still  ongoing  as  concerns  landfills  that  were 
open before 2004 and are currently still in operation, but 
which  lack  a  sufficient  conditioning  plan,  as  required  by 
the  Landfill  Directive.  In  addition,  a  number  of  old 
landfills  that    are  out  of  operation  still  have  not  been 
closed  and  rehabilitated  as  also  required  by  the  Landfill 
Directive.  Also,  old  environmental  burdens26  require 
significant investments.   

The  legislative  framework  for  separate  collection  of  bio-
waste  improved  in  Slovakia  as  the  amendment  of  the 
Waste Act (in effect as of 1 January 2021) repealed most 
of  exceptions  from  the  obligation  of  separate  collection 
of  household  kitchen  waste  which  has    stalled  together 
with  the  waste  management    market.  However,  some 
derogations  are  still  in  place  until  end  of  2022  because 
relevant  infrastructure  is  missing27,  28.    The  ‘pay-as-you-
throw’  (PAYT)  scheme  has  not  been  extended  since  the 
2017  EIR  report  and,  in  any  case,  the  level  of  uptake  is 
low.  To 
increase  reuse  and  recycling  rates,  PAYT 
combined with an increase in the landfill tax (LFT) should 
be considered29.  

Recycling  (including  composting)  seems  to  be  growing 
(42% vs the EU average of 47% in 2020)30; however, the 
steep  increase  in  the  recycling  rate  in  2014-2017  was 
mainly  due  to  adjustments  in  the  statistical  reporting 
in 
methodology  rather 

than  by  an 

improvement 

22 Directive 1999/31/EC. 
23 Directive 2008/98/EC. 
24  Circular  economy:  Commission  takes  action  against  five  Member 
States (europa.eu) 
25  Waste:  Commission  calls  on  POLAND  and  SLOVAKIA  to  comply  with 
EU  rules  on  landfills:  March  infringements  package:  key  decisions 
(europa.eu)  
26 The inventory of old environmental burdens in Slovakia took place in 
2006-2008 and identified almost 2 000 sites, of which around 250 are of 
high risk. For example, the most known,  Vrakuňa landfill, is the site of a 
former chemical plant that has an impact on one of the most important 
sources  of  drinking  water  in  Central  Europe  located  in  southern 
Slovakia. The implemenation of the sanation  
27 Revízia výdavkov na životné prostredie (minzp.sk) 
28 Municipalities get ready for new waste collections as postponements 
are binned - spectator.sme.sk 
29 Factsheet_Polluters_pay_Slovakia_V1.pdf (europa.eu) 
30 According to Slovak authorities, in accordance with the definition of 
municipal waste, municipal waste from other sources will be added to 
the  statistics of  the  Slovak  Republic  in the  course  of  2022  and revised 
data will be reported to Eurostat. 

 Environmental Implementation Review 2022 – Slovakia 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
                                                 
This 

(around 

3  000). 

performance. Slovakia  has  a  very  high  number  of 
municipalities 
to 
fragmentation,  inefficiencies  and  a  lack  of  economy  of 
scale in waste collection and treatment. Another problem 
is  that  despite  overall  revamping  of  Slovakia’s  waste 
legislation in 2016, it is deemed to be quite complex now 
and  has  since  failed  to  deliver  on  extended  producer 
responsibility (EPR) schemes.  

leads 

Figure 5 shows that Slovakia needs to step up investment 
in  recycling  to  meet  the  EU  2020  recycling  targets.  The 
country will need to make an even greater effort to meet 
the post-2020 recycling targets. 

Figure 5: Recycling rate of municipal waste, 2010-202031 

The Commission's Early Warning report'32 listed  Slovakia 
was as one of the countries at risk of missing the EU 2020 
target  of  recycling  50%  of  municipal  waste.  The  report 
listed key priority measures  that Slovakia should take to 
is 
close  the 
currently  finalising 
its  analysis  of  the  progress  on 
recommendations  from  the  2018  Early  Warning  Reports 
and  of  progress  towards  achieving  the  2025  waste 
recycling targets. This report will be presented at the end 
of 2022 and will assess the progress made to date. 

implementation  gap.  The  Commission 

Implementation of the 2018 waste legislative package 

Waste  Management  Plans  and  Waste  Prevention 
Programmes 
sound 
instrumental 
implementation of EU waste legislation. They set out key 

the 

are 

for 

Slovakia  8 

provisions  and  investments  to  ensure  compliance  with 
existing and new legal requirements. 

By 5 July 2020, Member States had to bring their national 
laws  in  line  with  modifications  included  in  the  revised 
Waste Framework Directive, the Packaging and Packaging 
Waste  Directive  and  the  Landfill  Directive33.  With  a 
delay34,  Slovakia has  notified  to  the  Commission 
its  
transposition  of  the  2018  waste  package.  A  conformity 
assessment  is  now  ongoing.  Slovakia  has  also  notified 
transposition  of  the  Packaging  and  Packaging  Waste 
Directive to the Commission. A conformity assessment is 
ongoing too. 

Slovakia  adopted  a 
revised  Waste  Management 
Program35 (WMP) for 2021-2025 in November 2021. The 
update of the Waste Prevention Programme36 (WPP) for 
2019-2025  forms  a  part  of  Chapter  VI  of  the  approved 
WMP.  The  two  revised  programmes  were  sent  to  the 
Commission 
in  December  2021.  Assessment  by  the 
Commission services is on-going. 

Given  that  there  was  limited  progress  on  the  2019 
priority  actions  of    and  in  the  light  of  the  Early  warning 
report yet to be released, the priority actions are largely 
proposed again, as in the 2019 report.  Actions related to 
landfills  and  incinerators  were  also  extended  and  one 
action on waste prevention was added. 

2022 priority actions 

for 

  Further  increase  landfill  taxes  to  divert  recyclable 
waste  from  landfill.  Channel  the  resulting  revenues 
into measures to improve waste management in line 
with the waste hierarchy.  
  Avoid  building  excessive 

infrastructure 

in  potentially  stranded  assets 

the 
residual  waste,  e.g.  mechanical-
treatment  of 
facilities  and  avoid  
biological  treatment 
investment 
like 
installations for (co-) incineration for mixed municipal 
waste.  
Improve and extend the separate collection of waste, 
including for bio-waste. Use economic deterrents, e.g. 
PAYT schemes and set mandatory recycling targets for 
municipalities  with  measures  (e.g.  fines)  if  there  is 
non-compliance. 

(MBT) 

 

31  Eurostat, Recycling rate of municipal waste, April 2022.  
32  European  Commission,  Report  on  the  implementation  of  waste 
legislation, including the early warning report for Member States at risk 
of missing the 2020 preparation for re-use/recycling target on municipal 
waste, SWD(2018)422 accompanying COM(2018)656. 

33  Directive  (EU)  2018/851,  Directive  (EU)  2018/852,  Directive  (EU) 
2018/850  and  Directive  (EU)  2018/849  amend  the  previous  waste 
legislation and set more ambitious recycling targets for the period up to 
2035. 
34  Commission  urges  7  Member  States  to  fully  enact  new  EU  rules  on 
waste  streams  into  national  legislation:  June  infringements  package: 
key decisions (europa.eu) 
35 vestnik-2021-3.pdf (minzp.sk) 
36 ppvo-sr-19-25.pdf (minzp.sk) 

 Environmental Implementation Review 2022 – Slovakia 

 
 
                                                 
 
 
                                                 
  Close  and  rehabilitate  non-compliant  landfills  as  a 
matter of priority. Ensure that all landfilled waste has 
been subject to (pre-)treatment.  
Improve  the  functioning  of  EPR  systems,  in  line  with 
the general minimum requirements on EPR37. 
Implement the waste prevention measures. 

 

 

Slovakia  9 

37 Set out in Directive (EU) 2018/851 amending Directive 2008/98/EC. 

 Environmental Implementation Review 2022 – Slovakia 

 
 
 
                                                 
2. Biodiversity and natural capital

Slovakia  10 

The  2030  EU  biodiversity  strategy  adopted  in  May  2020 
aims  to  put  Europe’s  biodiversity  on  a  path  to  recovery 
and sets out new targets and governance mechanisms to 
achieve healthy and resilient ecosystems.  
In particular, the Strategy sets out ambitious targets to: 
(i)  protect  a  minimum  of  30%  of  the  EU’s  land  area  and 
30% of its sea area and integrate ecological corridors, as 
part of a true trans-European nature network;  
(ii)  strictly  protect  at  least  a  third  of  the  EU’s  protected 
areas, including all remaining EU primary and old-growth 
forests;  
(iii) effectively manage all protected areas, defining clear 
conservation  objectives  and  measures,  and  monitoring 
them appropriately.  

The Strategy also sets out an EU Nature Restoration Plan 
–  a  series  of  concrete  commitments  and  actions  to 
restore degraded ecosystems across the EU by 2030, and 
manage  them  sustainably,  addressing  the  key  drivers  of 
biodiversity loss. 

The EU's Habitats and Birds Directives are key legislative 
tools  to  deliver  on  targets  in  the  EU's  Biodiversity 
Strategy, and are the cornerstone of European legislation 
aimed at the conserving the EU's wildlife38.  

Slovakia’s 2030 National Biodiversity Strategy and Action 
Plan    is  currently  in    preparation.  However,  sufficient 
funding for biodiversityis lacking and a broader financing 
plan  for  biodiversity,  including  activities  identified  in 
Natura  2000  Prioritised  Action  Framework    (PAF)  is  also 
missing. 

Slovakia’s  RRP 
includes  the  component  on  climate 
adaptation and biodiversity.  Under  this, investments are 
coupled  with  reforms  in  landscape  planning,  nature 
protection  and  water  management  contributing  to  the 
climate adaptation. Examples of investments include the 
or 
renaturation 
afforestation of forest land by native tree species. Among 
the first results, Slovakia passed a national park reform at 
the end of 2021, which sets the first step in the transition 
to the unified management of state-owned lands located 
within national parks39.  

of  watercourses 

or  wetlands 

38 These should be reinforced by the Nature Restoration Law, according 
to the new EU Biodiversity Strategy. 
39  Slovak  national  parks  won't  need  to  envy  Poland  and  Ukraine 
anymore - spectator.sme.sk 

Nature protection and restoration  

Natura  200040,  the 
largest  coordinated  network  of 
protected  areas  in  the  world,  is  the  key  instrument  to 
in  the  Birds  and  Habitats 
achieve  the  objectives 
Directives. These are to ensure the long-term protection, 
conservation and survival of  Europe's most  valuable and 
threatened  species  and  habitats;  and  of  the  ecosystems 
they  underpin.  Key  milestones  towards  meeting  the 
objectives  of  the  Birds  and  Habitats  Directives  are: 
setting-up  of  a  coherent  Natura  2000  network;  the 
designation  of  sites  of  Community  importance  (SCIs)  as 
special  areas  of  conservation  (SACs),  and  setting  of  site-
specific    conservation  objectives  and  measures  for  all 
Natura 2000 sites.  

Setting up a coherent network of Natura 2000 sites 

Slavakia  hosts  66  habitat  types41  and  195  species42 
covered by the Habitats Directive. The country also hosts 
populations  of  83  bird  taxa  listed  in  the  Birds  Directive 
Annex I43. 

As  shown  in  Figure  7,  by  2021,  29.8%  of  Slovakia  was 
covered  by  Natura  2000  sites  (EU  coverage  18.5%). 
Special Protection Areas (SPAs) classified under the Birds 
Directive covered 26.7% (EU coverage 12.8%) and Sites of 
Community  Importance  (SCIs)  designated  under  the 
Habitats  Directive  covered  12.5%  of  the  Slovak  territory 
(EU coverage 14.2%). 

Considering  both  Natura  2000  and  other  nationally 
designated  protected  areas,  Slovakia  legally  protects 
37,40% of its terrestrial areas (EU-27 average 26,4%)44. 

The latest assessment of the SCI part of the Slovak Natura 
2000  network  shows  that,  after  adding    of  169  sites  in 

40  Natura  2000  comprises  Sites  of  Community  Importance  (SCIs) 
designated  pursuant  to  the  Habitats  Directive  and  Special  Protection 
Areas  (SPAs)  classified  pursuant  to  the  Birds  Directive;  figures  of 
coverage do not add up exactly due to the fact that some SCIs and SPAs 
overlap.  Special  Areas  of  Conservation  (SACs)  means  a  SCI  designated 
by Member States. 
41 EEA, Article 17 dashboard, Annex I total, 2019. 
42  EEA,  Article  17  dashboard,  Annex  II  +  Annex  IV  excluding  those  in 
Annex II + Annex V excluding those in Annex II, 2019. This counting only 
takes  into  account  species  and  habitats  for  which  assessment  of 
conservation status was requested. 
43  EEA,  Article  12  dashboard,  Annex  I,  2020.  This  counting  only  takes 
into account birds taxa for which information was requested. 
44 European Environment Agency, Protected Areas, terrestrial protected 
area percentage (2021) , March 2022. 

Environmental Implementation Review 2022 – Slovakia 

 
 
 
                                                 
 
                                                 
Slovakia  11 

2017,  there  remain  a  number  of    insufficiencies  which 
Slovakia  has  committed    procedure  itself  to  resolve. 
There is an ongoing infringement against Slovakia related 
to  these  insufficiencies.  New  sites  were  identified  in 
2018-2020  and negotiated with land owners and users in 
2020-2021;the  legal  procedure  should  be  finalised  in 
spring 2022 (please see also further).  

Figure 6: Terrestrial protected area coverage, 202145 

Nevertheless,  446  SCIs  have  not  yet  been  designated  as 
SACs.  In  addition,  Slovakia  has  persistently  failed  to  set 
detailed  site-specific  conservation  objectives  and  the 
necessary  conservation  measures  that  would  ensure 
effective protection and restoration of the 473 sites.  For 
this  reason  the  Commission  opened  an  infringement 
procedure  against  Slovakia  in  July  201947  and  issued  a 
reasoned opinion in February 202248. 

Figure  6  shows  the    situation  in  2021  at  EU  level  for 
terrestrial  and  marine  protected  area  coverage 
in 
meeting the Biodiversity Strategy 2030 target. 

Figure  7:  Natura  2000  terrestrial  protected  area 
coverage, 202146  

Progress 
restoring 
in  maintaining  or 
conservation status of species and habitats 

favourable 

In  accordance  with  of  Habitats  Directive  Article  17  and 
Birds Directive Article 12, reports are prepared to assess 
progress  towards  maintaining  or  restoring  favourable 
conservation status of species and habitats. The results of 
these  reports  are  key  to  measure  the  performance  of 
Member States. 

According  to  the  report  submitted  by  Slovakia  on  the 
conservation  status  of  habitats  and  species  covered  by  
Article  17  of  the  Habitats  Directive  for  the  period  2013-
201849,  the  share  of  assessments  for  habitats  in  good 
conservation  status  was  nearly  the  same  as  in  the 
previous  reporting  period  2007-2012.  The  share  of 
species  in  good  conservation  status  increased  from  20%  
to  23%  between  the  two  reporting  periods50.  As  far  as 
birds  are  concerned,  about  58%  of  the  breeding  species 
showed short-term increasing or stable population trends 
while the same figure for wintering species  was 67%.  

The  share  of  habitats 
in  bad  conservation  status 
decreased  slightly  to  10%,  while  that  share  for  species 
increased to 22%. For most habitats and species, Slovakia 
also  resolved  the  unknown  classifications  between  the 
two reporting periods.  

Designating Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and 
setting conservation objectives and measures 

The  six-year  deadline  set  by  the  Habitats  Directive  to 
designate  SCIs  as  SACs,  and  establish  appropriate 
conservation  objectives  and  measures,  has  expired  for 
473 sites in Slovakia.  

45  EU  Biodiversity  Strategy  Dashboard,  indicators  A1.1.1  and  A1.2.1, 
February 2022. 
46  European  Environment  Agency,  Natura  2000  Barometer,  February 
2022. 

47  Nature  protection:  Commission  calls  on  SLOVAKIA  to  complete 
Natura 
network: 
2000 
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/INF_19_4251  
48  Nature:  Commission  calls  on  SLOVAKIA  to  ensure  that  EU  nature 
protection  laws  are  respected:  February  infringements  package:  key 
decisions (europa.eu) 
49 Černecký, J., Čuláková, J., Ďuricová, V., Saxa, A., Andráš, P., Ulrych, L., 
Šuvada,  R.,  Galvánková,  J.,  Lešová,  A.,  Havranová,  I.  2020.  Správa  o 
stave biotopov a druhov európskeho významu za obdobie rokov 2013 – 
2018 v Slovenskej republike. Banská Bystrica: ŠOP SR, 109 pp, ISBN 978- 
80-8184-076-0 
50 State of Nature Report. EEA 2021. 

 Environmental Implementation Review 2022 – Slovakia 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
 
                                                 
Slovakia  12 

Figure  8:  Assessments  of  conservation  status  for 
habitats 
reporting 
for  2007-2012  and  2013-2018 
periods51 

Figure 9:  Assessments of conservation status for species 
for 2007-2012 and 2013-2018 reporting periods52 

Slovakia  has  taken  the  first  steps53  to  address  specific 
problems  with  sustainable 
in 
protected  areas.  Slovak  forests  in  Natura  2000  sites  are 
facing high levels of logging, especially sanitary logging in 

forest  management 

51  European  Environment  Agency,  Conservation  status  and  trends  of 
habitats and species, December 2021. Please note when comparing the 
figures shown for 2007-2012 and 2013-2018 these may also be affected 
by changes of methods or due to better data availability. 
52 idem 
53  Amended  legislation  entered  into  force 
regulates/limits  forest  management 
National Parks and SPAs. 

in  January  2022  that 
in  protected  areas,  namely 

the  site  before 

reaction  to  forest  disturbances  such  as  bark  beetle 
infestations or storm damage. Article 6(3) of the Habitats 
Directive  requires  that  plans  and  projects  not  directly 
connected  with  or  necessary  to  the  management  of  a 
Natura  2000  site  but  likely  to  have  a  significant  impact 
thereon  undergo  an  appropriate  assessment  of  their 
implementation. 
effects  on 
According to the Commission, Slovak legislation still does 
not  ensure  that  sanitary  logging  activities,  which  might 
have  a  significant  impact  on  Natura  2000  sites,  undergo 
these  assessments.  At 
forest 
management  plans,  which  did  not  undergo  such  an 
assessment  in  the  past,  are  still  in  force.   Therefore,  in 
July  2020,  the  Commission  decided  to  refer  Slovakia  to 
the  Court  of  Justice  of  the  EU  over  failure  to  assess  the 
impact of sanitary logging on Natura 2000 sites54. 

same 

time, 

their 

the 

The case also addresses the  failure to take measures for 
the  protection  of  a  bird  species  in  breach  of  Article  6(2) 
of  the  Habitats  Directive  concerning  the  need  to  avoid 
habitat  deterioration  and  disturbance  of  a  protected 
in  2004  the 
species.  Since  Slovakia 
population  of  the  Capercaillie  has  decreased  by  half  in 
the  12  Special  Protection  Areas  (SPA)  classified  for  its 
protection under the Birds Directive. The main reason for 
this large decline has been the disappearance of suitable 
habitats due to logging.  

joined  the  EU 

As shown in Figures 8 and 9 on the conservation status of 
habitats  and  species,  there  were  no  major  changes 
between  the  two  reporting  periods.  Changes  in  status 
occurred mainly due to improved knowledge based on an 
established  monitoring  system  and  the  redistribution  of 
in 
previously  unknown  status;  the  share  of  those 
unknown status fell almost to zero.  The share of species 
in bad conservation status increased while that status for 
habitats  slightly  decreased  between  the  two  reporting 
periods. At the same time, the share of habitats in  good 
conservation status has hardly changed and the share of 
species  in  the  same  status  increased.  Natural  processes, 
agriculture and alien species were the main pressures for 
habitats.  For  species,  agriculture  and  the  development, 
construction  and  use  of  infrastructure  and  areas  and 
natural processes, were most important.  

54 Commission decides to refer Slovakia to the Court of Justice of the EU 
over  failure  to  assess  the  impact  of  sanitary  logging  on  Natura  2000 
sites and failure to  take measures for the protection of a bird species: 
Infringement - Nature - Slovakia (europa.eu) 

 Environmental Implementation Review 2022 – Slovakia 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
 
 
                                                 
Slovakia  13 

average  of  9.07%  in  202056.  Nevertheless,  conversion  to 
organic  farming  should  speed  up,  since  it  has  stagnated 
in recent years. This leaves ample room for improvement 
to reach by 2030 EU targets of  the Biodiversity and Farm 
to Fork Strategies.  

Figure  10:  Share  of  total  utilised  agricultural  area 
occupied by organic farming per Member State, 202057.    

Bringing nature back to agricultural land and restoring 
soil ecosystems 

Agricultural land  

The  Biodiversity  Strategy  works  alongside  the  new  Farm 
to Fork Strategy and the new Common Agricultural Policy 
(CAP)  to  support  and  achieve  the  transition  to  fully 
sustainable agriculture. The Biodiversity and Farm to Fork 
strategies have set four important targets for 2030:  
- a 50% reduction in the overall use of – and risk from – 
chemical pesticides; 
-  a  50%  reduction 
pesticides; 
-  a  50%  reduction  in  losses  of  nutrients  from  fertilisers 
while  ensuring  there  is  no  deterioration  of  soil  fertility 
(which  will  result  in  a  20%  reduction  in  the  use  of 
fertilisers);  
- bring back at least 10% of agricultural area under high-
diversity  landscape  features  and  increase  areas  under 
organic farming to at least 25%. 

in  the  use  of  more  hazardous 

in 

to 

the  analysis 

According 
the  Commission 
recommendations  for  Slovakia’s  CAP  strategic  plan55, 
Slovak  farms  and  forests  are  facing  major  challenges 
linked  to  the  management  of  natural  resources  and 
biodiversity,  especially  in  light  of  the  intensification  of 
agricultural  production  and  the 
impacts  of  climate 
change. Changing weather patterns are making Slovakia’s 
agricultural  sector  vulnerable  to  higher  yield  variability 
and  crop  disturbances  due  to  water  imbalances,  pests 
(that  also  damage  forests)  and,  heat-induced  stress  for 
livestock.  However,  there  are  some  opportunities  linked 
to increased productivity and new crops.  

As 
in  many  other  Member  States,  the  biodiversity 
situation in Slovakia is continuously worsening especially 
for bird species, amphibians and reptiles, agricultural and 
forest  habitats  in  Natura  2000  sites,  and  aquatic  and 
wetlands  ecosystems.  Another  continuing  challenge  is 
the lack of proper protection and management of overall 
variety in landscape features on agricultural land. Data on 
the common farmland bird index show a declining trend 
(the  index  for  Slovakia  was  103.45  in  2012  and  it  went 
down  to  83.50  in  2018  whereas  the  value  for  EU-27  in 
2018 was 70). 

The  numbers  both  of  hectares  of  organically  farmed 
agricultural 
land  and  of  organic  farmers  show  the 
importance  that  organic  farming  has  gained  in  Slovakia 
over recent decades. Slovakia, with an estimated 11.67% 
of  area  under  organic  farming,  is  slightly  above  the  EU 

include: 

As  recommended  by  the  Commission,  Slovakia  should 
bolster  environmental  care  and  climate  action  to 
contribute to the EU's environmental and climate-related 
objectives.  Among  others,  this  should 
i) 
increasing  resilience  to  climate  change  by  increasing 
water  efficiency 
through  modernisation  of  water 
infrastructure and rainwater harvesting, crop adaptation, 
and  appropriate  land  management  practices  improving 
water  retention  in  soils;  (ii)  reducing  greenhouse  gas 
emissions from agriculture; and (iii) fostering sustainable 
forest  management  and  enhancing  multifunctionality, 
forest protection and restoration of forest ecosystems. 

Soil ecosystems 

new 

Soil  is  a  finite  and  extremely  fragile  resource.  It  is 
increasingly degrading in the EU. 
on 
adopted 
EU 
The 
17 November 2021,  stresses  the 
importance  of  soil 
protection,  of  sustainable  soil  management  and  of 
restoring  degraded  soils  to  achieve  the  Green  Deal 
objectives as well as land-degradation neutrality by 2030.  

Strategy, 

Soil 

55  Commission  recommendations  for  Slovakia’s  CAP  strategic  plan 
SWD(2020) 392 final EUR-Lex - 52020SC0392 - EN - EUR-Lex (europa.eu) 

56 Area under organic farming Statistics | Eurostat (europa.eu) 
57 
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sdg_02_40/default/t
able?lang=en Eurostat, Area under organic farming, February 2022). 

 Environmental Implementation Review 2022 – Slovakia 

 
                                                 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
This entails:  
(i) preventing further soil degradation;  
(ii) making sustainable soil management the new normal;  
(iii) taking action for ecosystem restoration. 

One  factor  in  the  degradation  of  soil  ecosystems  is  the 
area of soil that is sealed or atificialised58. The land taken 
(land  ‘taken’  means  land  that  is  sealed  or  artificialised) 
per year in  2012-2018 can be seen as a measure of one 
significant pressure on nature and biodiversity - land-use 
change. At the same time, land-use change constitutes an 
environmental  pressure  on  people  living  in  urbanised 
areas.   

Despite  a  reduction  in  the  last  decade  (land  take  was 
over  1  000  km2/year  in  the  EU-28  between  2000-2006), 
land take in the EU-28 still amounted to 539 km2/year in 
2012-2018. The concept of ‘net land take’  combines land 
take  with  the  return  of 
land 
categories  (re-cultivation).  While  some  land  was  re-
cultivated in the EU-28 in 2000-2018, 11 times more land 
was  taken  than  returned.   Slovakia  ranks  above  the  EU 
average as regards land take with net land take of 151.9 
m2/km2 (EU-27 average: 83.8 m2/km2)59.  

land  to  non-artificial 

land 
In  2018,  Slovakia  updated 
degradation  according  to  the  Performance  Review  and 
Implementation  System  (PRAIS3)  with  actions  intended 
to combat the degradation identified60. 

its  reporting  on 

Slovakia  14 

Figure  11:  Land  take  and  re-cultivation 
(m2/km2), 2012-201861 

in  EU27 

the 

In  2015,  the  United  Nations  Convention  to  Combat 
Desertification  reached  an  agreement62  to  endorse  a 
vision  of  land-degradation  neutrality  and  link  this  vision 
to 
the  UN’s  sustainable 
development  goals  (SDGs)  in  general,  and  to  SDG  15.363 
in particular. Slovakia has not yet committed to set  land 
UNCCD 
degradation 
agreement64.  

implementation  of 

neutrality 

targets 

under 

Soil organic matter plays an important role in the carbon 
cycle and in climate change. Soils are the second largest 
carbon sink in the world after the oceans. 

Forests and timber 

The EU Forest Strategy for 2030 adopted in July 2021 is a 
part  of the ‘Fit for 55’  package65. The  strategy  promotes 
the many services that forests provide. Its key objective is 
to  ensure  healthy,  diverse  and  resilient  EU  forests  that 
contribute  significantly  to  strengthened  biodiversity  and 

61 European Environment Agency, Land take in Europe, December 2021. 
62 The LDN Target Setting Programme | UNCCD. 
63  ‘By  2030,  combat  desertification,  restore  degraded  land  and  soil, 
including land affected by desertification, drought and floods, and strive 
to achieve a land degradation-neutral world.’  
64  The LDN Target Setting Programme | UNCCD 
65 COM SWD (2021) 652 

58  Artificial  land  cover  is  defined  as  the  total  of  roofed  built-up  areas 
(including  buildings  and  greenhouses),  artificial  non-built-up  areas 
(including  sealed  area  features,  such  as  yards,  farmyards,  cemeteries, 
car  parking  areas  etc.  and  linear  features,  such  as  streets,  roads, 
railways, runways, bridges) and other artificial areas (including bridges 
and  viaducts,  mobile  homes,  solar  panels,  power  plants,  electrical 
substations, pipelines, water sewage plants, and open dump sites). 
59 Land take in Europe — European Environment Agency (europa.eu) fig 
6 
60 All Reports | Prais3 (unccd.int) 

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climate ambitions.  
Forests are important carbon sinks and conserving them 
is vital if the EU is to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.  

Figure  12:  Conservation  status  of  forests  protected 
under  the  Habitats  Directive  in  EU  Member  States, 
2013-2018 (% assessments)74 

Slovakia  15 

Of  the  27%  of  EU  forest  area  protected  under  the 
Habitats Directive, less than 15%  of assessments show a 
favourable  conservation  status66.  The  share  of  forested 
areas  in  the  EU  in  a  bad  conservation  status  increased 
from 27% in 2015 to 31% in 201867.  

In Slovakia, forests cover 45.32% of territory68 but  only a 
third of assessments show a good conservation status69. 

(EUTR)70 
The  European  Union  Timber  Regulation 
prohibits  the  placing  on  the  EU  market  of  illegally 
harvested 
timber.  EU  Member  States’  competent 
authorities  must  conduct  regular  checks  on  operators 
and  traders,  and  apply  penalties  for  non-compliance. 
With the amendment of Article 20 of the EUTR, reporting 
every 2 years has been changed to annual reporting and 
covers the calendar year as of 2019. 

In  the  period  March  2017  -  February  201971,  Slovakia 
carried  out  14  checks  on  domestic  timber  operators.  It 
also carried out 1 check on operators importing timber. It 
is  estimated  that  Slovakia  had  2  550  operators  placing 
imported  timber  types  onto  the  single  market  over  the 
reporting period. 

The 2019 EIR reported on problems with sustainable use 
of (woody) biomass in certain regions of Slovakia. While a 
positive  change  of  national  RES  Act  was  adopted  at  the 
end  of  2018,  the  preparation  of  criteria  for  sustainable 
use  of  renewable  sources, 
for  biomass, 
committed by Slovak government in February 2019 under 
the  Environmental  Policy  Strategy  203072,  seems  to  be 
pending. At the same time, new concerns were triggered 
by amendment of RES Act proposed at the end of 202173.  

including 

The new Deforestation Regulation will repeal and replace 
the EU TR, as it will essentially integrate and improve the 
existing system to check the legality of timber. 

in 

of 

the 

The 

nature 

European 

66 EEA, State of Nature in the EU 
67 
Union 
state 
Report on the status and trends in 2013  - 2018 of species and habitat 
types  protected  by  the  Birds  and  Habitats  Directives.  COM/2020/636 
final. 
68 EEA, Forest information system for Europe.  
69  JCR,  Mapping  and  assessment  of  primary  and  old-growth  forests  in 
Europe, p. 13. 
70 Regulation (EU) No 995/2010 of the European Parliament and of the 
Council of 20 October 2010. 
71 COM/2020/629 final 
72 Legislatívny proces - SLOV-LEX 
73 Hromadná pripomienka — Ekoforum.sk 

Invasive alien species (IAS) 

IAS  are  a  key  cause  of  biodiversity  loss  in  the  EU 
(alongside changes in land and sea use, overexploitation, 
climate change and pollution).  
Besides  inflicting  major  damage  on  nature  and  the 
economy,  many  IAS  also  facilitate  the  outbreak  and 
spread of infectious diseases, posing a threat to humans 
and wildlife.  
The  implementation  of  the  EU  Invasive  Alien  Species 
Regulation  and  other  relevant 
legislation  must  be 
stepped up.  
The  Biodiversity  Strategy  for  2030  aims  to  manage 
recognised 
invasive  alien  species  and  decrease  the 
number  of  ‘red  list’  species  they  threaten  by  50%.The 
core  of  Regulation  (EU)  1143/2014  on  Invasive  Alien 
Species  (the  IAS  Regulation75)  is  the  list  of  invasive  alien 
species of Union concern.  

The  total  number  of  invasive  alien  species  of  Union 
concern  is  currently  66,  of  which:  30  are  animal  species 
and  36  are  plant  species;  41  are  primarily  terrestrial 
species,  23  are  primarily  freshwater  species,  1  is  a 
brackish-water species and 1 is a marine species. 

A  2021  report76  on  the  review  of  the  application  of  the 
IAS Regulation shows that the implementation of the IAS 

74  European  Environment  Agency,  Conservation  status  and  trend  in 
conservation status by habitat group - forests, January 2022. 
75 Regulation (EU) No 1143/2014 of the European Parliament and of the 
Council of 22 October 2014 on the prevention and management of the 
introduction and spread of invasive alien species 
76  Report  from  the  Commission  to  the  European  Parliament  and  the 
Council  on  the  review  of  the  application  of  Regulation  (EU)  No 

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Regulation is already starting to deliver on its objectives 
such  as  a  coherent  framework  for  addressing  IAS  at  EU 
level and increased awareness of the problem of invasive 
alien  species.  At  the  same  time,  the  report  identified 
some challenges and areas  for improvement. Given that 
the deadlines for implementing the various obligations of 
the  IAS  Regulation  applied  gradually  between  July  2016 
and  July  2019,  it  is  premature  to  draw  conclusions  on 
several  aspects  relating  to  implementation  of  the  IAS 
Regulation.  

A 2021 report77 on the baseline distribution shows that of 
the  66  species  on  the  EU  list,  20  have  been  observed  in 
the environment in Slovakia. The spread can be checked 
in Figure 13. 

Figure  13:  Number  of  invasive  alien  species  of  EU 
concern, based on available  georeferenced information 
for Slovakia 

Slovakia  16 

2022 Priority Actions 

  Establish  site-specific  conservation  objectives  and 

measures for all sites. 

funds 

into  other 
(notably 

  Provide  adequate  resources  and  strengthen  capacity 
to implement the above conservation measures.  
  Complete the SCI part of the Natura 2000 network. 
 

Integrate  biodiversity  considerations 
their  associated 
policies  and 
agriculture, forestry and infrastructure planning). 
  Reduce  pressure  from  the  agricultural  sector  on 
natural  resources  and  in  particular  via  the  land 
management  practices  improving  water  retention  in 
soils 
Improve incentives for foresters and farmers to better 
protect  forest  and  biodiversity.  Ensure  sustainable 
forest management through effective planning taking 
into  account  ecosystem  services  provided  by  forests. 
Prevent  the  deterioration  of  Natura  2000  sites 
including by ensuring that forestry management plans 
are assessed in accordance with EU law. 

 

  Take  the  necessary  steps  to  ensure  full  compliance 
with  the  requirements  specified  in  Article  13  of  the 
IAS Regulation. 

Ecosystem assessment and accounting  

The  EU  Biodiversity  Strategy  for  2030  calls  on  Member 
States to better integrate biodiversity considerations into 
public  and  business  decision  making  at  all  levels  and  to 
develop  natural  capital  accounting.  The  EU  needs  a 
better  performing  biodiversity  observation  network  and 
more  consistent 
the  condition  of  
reporting  on 
ecosystems. 

An ecosystem assessment is an analysis of the pressures 
on  –  and  the  condition  of  –  terrestrial,  freshwater  and 
marine  ecosystems  and  their  services.  It  uses  spatially 
explicit  data  and  a  comparable  methodology  based  on 
European  data  about  the  functions  of  ecosystem  assets 
and the ecosystem services they produce.  

Ecosystem  accounting  is  built  on  five  core  accounts 
(ecosystem  extent,  ecosystem 
condition,  physical 
ecosystem  services,  monetary  ecosystem  services  and 
monetary  ecosystem  assets).  These  accounts  are 
compiled  using  indicators  of  ecosystem  assets  and  the 
ecosystem services they produce.  

In  2014,  Slovakia  approved  an  Action  Plan  on 
implementation  of  the  updated  National  Strategy  for 
Biological  Diversity  by  2020,  including  several  activities 
on ecosystem assessment. 

Subsequently,  the  working  group  on  mapping  and 
evaluation  (MAES-SK)  was  set  up  with  experts  and 

An infringement  case is ongoing for Slovakia. It failed to 
establish and implement one single action plan or a set of 
action plans to meet the requirements specified in Article 
13 of the IAS Regulation by 13 July 2019, and to transmit 
it/them to the Commission without delay78. 

1143/2014  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  22 
October  2014  on the  prevention and management  of  the  introduction 
and spread of invasive alien species, COM(2021) 628 final, 13.10.2021. 
77  Cardoso  A.C.,  Tsiamis  K.,  Deriu  I.,  D'  Amico  F.,  Gervasini  E.,  EU 
Regulation  1143/2014:  assessment  of  invasive  alien  species  of  Union 
concern  distribution,  Member  States  reports  vs  JRC  baselines,  EUR 
30689  EN,  Publications  Office  of  the  European  Union,  Luxembourg, 
2021, ISBN 978-92-76-37420-6, doi:10.2760/11150, JRC123170. 

78  Biodiversity:  Commission  calls  on  18  Member  States  to  protect  the 
environment  against 
infringements 
package: key decisions (europa.eu) 

invasive  alien  species:  June 

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representatives  from  various  sectors  of  state  and 
scientific institutions.  

Figure 14: ESMERALDA MAES barometer, January 2016 
– March 202181 

Slovakia  17 

Several  studies  focused  on  ecosystem  assessment. 
Among  them,  was  a  comprehensive  biophysical  and 
monetary  assessment  completed  in  2020  based  on  the 
quality  of  Slovak  ecosystems/habitats  and 
their 
degradation rate. The assessment allowed the creation of 
a  detailed  map  and  geo-database  of  ecosystems,  an 
evaluation  of  the  potential  and  production  of  Slovak 
ecosystems to provide ecosystem services, as well as an 
assignment  of 
individual 
the  economic  value 
ecosystems in EUR/ha/year by the value transfer method 
according to prices.  

to 

It  assesses 

Another  study 
  from  2020  focused  on  a  national 
ecosystem  services  assessment  and  a  catalogue  of 
ecosystem services. The catalogue defines and describes 
18  ecosystem  services. 
the  national 
landscape’s  capacity  for  ecosystem  services  provision 
based on evaluation of the landscape units and selected 
properties and indicators at ecosystem level. Also, under 
the guidance of Slovak experts, the Carpathian ecosystem 
services  toolkit  was  developed  for  the  Carpathian 
countries in 202179. In the scope of the LIFE 2020-2030 IP 
project,  an  evaluation  of  socio-economic  benefits  and 
ecosystem  services  in  the  Natura  2000  framework  is 
ongoing80.   

Progress  on  ecosystem  accounting  implementation  is 
assessed  at  national  scale  based  on  13  questions  (see 
Figure 15). 

Figure 15: Ecosystem accounting Barometer, September 
202182 

A proposal for a regulation amending Regulation (EU) No 
691/2011  on  European  environmental  economic 
accounts  might 
reporting  of 
ecosystem  accounts  (extent  and  ecosystem  services) 
from 2025. 

to  mandatory 

lead 

The  establishment  of  pilot  accounts  (extent,  condition, 
capacity) and their monetisation are ongoing priorities. It 
needs  to  be  further  elaborated,  particularly  concerning 
the  development  of  a  methodological  base 
for 
measurement and valuation of ecosystem services supply 
and use, overall balance, trade-offs and synergies. 

Slovakia  has  provided  updated  information  and  this 
shows  that  significant  progress  has  been  recorded  since 
January 2016 (Figure 14). This assessment is based on 27 
implementation  questions  and 
is  updated  every  6  
months. 

79 https://www.interreg-
central.eu/Content.Node/Centralparks/Carpathian-Ecosystem-Services-
Toolking-EN.pdf 
80  Role  of  the  Natura  2000  network  and  management  of  some 
prioritized habitats in the integrated landscape protection in the Slovak 
Republic: LIFE 3.0 - LIFE Project Public Page (europa.eu) 

2022 priority action 

 

Continue supporting the mapping and assessment of 
ecosystems  and  their  services,  and  ecosystem 
through  appropriate 
accounting  development, 
indicators 
extent, 
for 
condition  and  services  (including  some  monetary 
values)  into  national  accounts;  continue  supporting 
the  development  of  national  business  and 
including  natural  capital 
biodiversity  platforms, 

integrating  ecosystem 

81  European  Commission,  Joint  Research Centre,  Publication Office,  EU 
Ecosystem assessment: summary for policymakers, page 80, May 2021. 
82  MAIA  Portal,  Mapping  and  assessment  for  Integrated  Ecosystem 
Accounting (EU Horizon 2020 project), 2022.  MAIA uses the System of 
Environmental  Economic  Accounting  –  Experimental  Ecosystem 
Accounting  (SEEA-EEA)  as  the  methodological  basis  for  the  ecosystem 
accounting. The SEEA-EEA is an integrated an comprehensive statistical 
framework  that  is  based  on  five  core  accounts:  ecosystem  extent, 
condition, services and monetary ecosystem asset. 

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accounting systems to monitor and value the impact 
of business on biodiversity. 

Slovakia  18 

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Slovakia  19 

3. Zero pollution 

Clean air 

its 

EU  clean-air  policies  and  legislation  need  to  significantly 
improve air quality in the EU, moving the EU closer to the 
quality recommended by the WHO and curbing emissions 
of key air pollutants.  
Air  pollution  and 
impacts  on  ecosystems  and 
biodiversity  should  be  further  reduced  with  the  long-
term  aim  of  not  exceeding  critical  loads  and  levels.  This 
requires  strengthening  efforts  to  reach  full  compliance 
with EU clean air legislation and defining strategic targets 
and actions for 2030 and beyond.  
The 2030 zero pollution action plan targets are to reduce 
the health impacts of air pollution by 55% and to reduce 
the  EU  ecosystems  threatened  by  air  pollution  by  25%, 
compared to 2005.  

The  EU  has  developed  a  comprehensive  suite  of  air 
quality  legislation.  It  establishes  health-based  air  quality 
standards83  and  emission  reduction  commitments  per 
Member State for a number of air pollutants84.  

Air quality in Slovakia continues to give cause for severe 
concern. The latest available annual estimates (for 2019) 
by  the  European  Environment  Agency85  point  to  about  
4 200 premature deaths (or 50 900 years of life lost (YLL)) 
attributable  to  fine  particulate  matter  concentrations86, 
90 (2 500 YLL) to ozone concentrations87 and 10 (100 YLL) 
to nitrogen dioxide concentrations88, 89, 90.  

83 European Commission, 2016. Air Quality Standards 
84 European Commission, Reduction of National Emissions 
85 European Environment Agency, Air Quality in Europe –2021 Rapport. 
Please  see  details 
in  this  report  as  regards  the  underpinning 
methodology, p.106 
86  Particulate  matter  (PM)  is  a  mixture  of  aerosol  particles  (solid  and 
liquid) covering a wide range of sizes and chemical compositions. PM10 
refers  to  particles  with  a  diameter  of  10  micrometres  or  less.  PM2.5 
refers  to  particles  with  a  diameter  of  2.5  micrometres  or  less.  PM  is 
emitted from many human sources, including combustion.  
87 Low-level ozone is produced by photochemical action on pollution. 
88  NOx  is  emitted  during  fuel  combustion e.g. from  industrial  facilities 
and  the  road  transport  sector.  NOx  is  a  group  of  gases  comprising 
nitrogen monoxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2).  
89  Please  note  that  these  figures  refer  to  the  impacts  of  individual 
pollutants, and to avoid double-counting cannot be added up to derive 
a sum.  
90  According  to  the  report  Drivers  and  health  impact  of  ambient  air 
pollution (2021) prepared by Institute for Environmental Policy and the 
World Bank, current concentrations of PM2.5, PM10 and NO2 result in 
the  mortality  and  morbidity  costs  amounting  to  EUR  3.0  billion  (using 
value of life year lost methodology) and EUR 5.8 billion (using the value 
of  statistical  life  methodology),  making  them  equal  to  3.6%  to  6.9% 
respectively of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2017. 

Emissions  of  key  air  pollutants  have  decreased 
significantly  in  Slovakia  over  the  last  years,  while  GDP 
growth  continued  (Figure  16).  According  to  the  latest 
projections  as  submitted  under  Article  10(2)  of  the 
National  Emission  Reduction  Commitments  Directive 
(NECD)91,  Slovakia  projects  to  reach  emission  reduction 
commitments  for  all  air  pollutants  covered  by  the 
Directive  for  the  period  2020  to  2029  and  for  most 
pollutants  for  2030  onwards.  However,  the  projections 
do not demonstrate reaching the 2030 onwards emission 
reduction  commitments  for  NH3.  Latest  inventory  data 
the 
submitted  by  Slovakia,  prior 
Commission, indicate that Slovakia is in compliance with 
the emission reduction commitments for all pollutants in 
2020. 

review  by 

to 

Slovakia  submitted  its  National  Air  Pollution  Control 
Programme on 3 March 2020. 

Figure  16:  Emission  trends  of  main  pollutants/GDP  in 
Slovakia, 2005-201992 

91 Directive 2016/2284/EU 
92 European Environment Agency 

Environmental Implementation Review 2022 – Slovakia 

 
                                                 
 
 
 
                                                 
Figure 17: PM2.5 and NOx emissions by sector in 
Slovakia, 201993 

Slovakia  20 

Union  over  exceedances  of  PM10  limit  values96.  Slovakia 
has  not  taken  adequate  measures  for  the  reduction  of 
the  PM10 concentrations 
the  air  quality  zone 
in 
Banskobystrický  kraj,  the  agglomeration  Košice  and  the 
air  quality  zone  Košický  kraj. The  air  quality  measures 
presented by Slovakia, have not proven to be timely and 
effective to reduce pollution within the agreed limits and 
contribute to keeping the exceedance periods as short as 
possible, as required under EU law.   

An  infringement  procedure  on-going  since  2017  for 
shortcomings  in  the  air  quality  monitoring  system  was 
finally  closed  in  2022  after  the  system  was    improved 
with  EU  funding  under  the  Operational  Programme 
Quality  of  Environment  (OPQoE)  for  the  period  2014  – 
202097. 

In the 2019 EIR, the Commission suggested that Slovakia 
takes,  as  part  of 
its  national  air-pollution  control 
programme,  actions  to  reduce  emissions  from  its  main 
emission sources including, for example, further reducing 
emissions  from  energy  production  and  heat  generation 
using solid fuels, or promoting efficient and clean district 
heating  and/or  fiscal  incentives.  However,  a  subsidy 
scheme  for replacement  of obsolete households’ boilers 
launched  in  2019  under  OPQoE  has  been  cancelled  in 
2021. It shall be replaced by a new scheme for large-scale 
renovation  of  family  houses  to  be  made  more  energy-
efficient,  foreseen  under  Slovak  RRP  to be  implemented 
as of 202298. Therefore, in comparison with the 2019 EIR 
outlook, Slovakia has not put in place adequate measures 
to  make 
the 
concentrations  of  some  pollutants  (in  particular  PM10) 
and  additional  efforts  are  still  needed  to  ensure  full 
compliance with the EU air quality legislation.  

sufficient  progress 

reducing 

in 

2022 Priority Actions  

  Take,  in  the  context  of  the  National  Air  Pollution 
Control  Programme 
towards 
reducing emissions from the main sources mentioned 
above. 

(NAPCP),  actions 

  Ensure  full  compliance  with  the  EU  air  quality 
standards  and  maintain  downward  emissions  trends 
of  air  pollutants,  to  reduce  adverse  air  pollution 
impacts  on  health  and  economy  with  a  view  to 
reaching WHO guideline values in the future. 

For  the  year  2020,  exceedances  above  the  limit  values 
established by the  Ambient  Air Quality Directive (AAQD) 
were  registered  for  particulate  matter  (PM10)  in  one  air 
quality 
kraj). 
Furthermore,  for  two  air  quality  zones  the  target  values 
regarding ozone94 concentration have not been met95.  

–  Banskobystricky 

(SKBB01 

zone 

Persistent  breaches  of  air  quality  requirements,  which 
have severe negative effects on health and environment, 
are  being  followed  up  by  the  European  Commission 
through infringement  procedures (mainly over PM10 and 
NO2 exceedances) covering all Member States concerned, 
including  Slovakia.  The  European  Commission  has 
referred Slovakia to the Court of Justice of the European 

93 European Environment Agency 

95 European Environment Agency, Eionet Central Data Repository 

96  Commission  refers  SLOVAKIA  to  the  Court  of  Justice  over  poor  air 
quality February infringements package: key decisions (europa.eu)  
97 Air - Op-kzp 
98 Plán Obnovy Rodinných Domov 2022, Dotácie na obnovu rodinného 
domu (plan-obnovy-dotacie.sk) 

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Industrial emissions 

Figure  18:  Number  of  IED  industrial  installations  by 
sector in Slovakia (2015)103 

Slovakia  21 

The  main objectives of EU policy on industrial emissions 
are to:  
(i) protect air, water and soil;  
(ii) prevent and manage waste;  
(iii) improve energy and resource efficiency;  
(iv) clean up contaminated sites.  

To  achieve  this,  the  EU  takes  an  integrated  approach  to 
prevention  and  control  of  routine  and  accidental 
industrial emissions. The cornerstone of the policy is the 
Industrial  Emissions  Directive  (IED)99.  The  Commission 
tabled a proposal  in April  2022100. The revision seeks to 
improve the Directive’s contribution to the zero-pollution 
objective, as well as its consistency with climate, energy 
and circular-economy policies. 

The overview of industrial activities regulated by  the IED 
below is based on the project ‘industrial emissions policy 
country  profiles’  (2015)101  because,  unlike  for  other 
Member  States,  no  information  was  reported  for  more 
recent  years102;  thus,  this  is  partly  a  repeat  of  the  2019 
EIR. 

In Slovakia, around 600 industrial installations must have 
a  permit  in  accordance  with  the  IED.  In  2015,  the 
industrial  sectors 
IED 
installations  were  intensive  rearing  of  poultry  or  pigs 
(21%),  followed  by  non-hazardous  waste  management 
(22%) and chemicals (14%).  

in  Slovakia  with  the  most 

industrial  sectors 

The 
identified  as  contributing  the 
largest  burden  to  the  environment  for  emissions  to  air 
were: iron and steel production for Arsenic (As), Copper 
(Cu),  Nitrogen  Oxides  (NOx),  Lead  (Pb),  Sulfur  Oxides 
(SOx)  and  dioxins;  energy  production  for  Nickel  (Ni), 
Mercury  (Hg)  and  Particulate  Matter  (PM  2.5);  pulp  and 
paper  industry  for  Cadmium  (Cd)  and  Zinc  (Zn)  and  
manure management for Ammonia (NH3)104. 

Figure  19: Emissions to air from IED sectors and rest of 
national total air emissions in Slovakia, 2018105 

The  European  Environment  Agency  has 

identified 

99  Directive  2010/75/EU  covers  industrial  activities  carried  out  above 
certain thresholds. It covers energy industry, metal production, mineral 
and chemical industry and waste management, as well as a wide range 
of  industrial  and  agricultural  sectors  (e.g.  intensive  rearing  of  pig  and 
poultry, pulp and paper production, painting and cleaning). 
100  The  revision  of  the  IED  is  performed  in  parallel  to  the  revision  of 
Regulation  (EC)  No  166/2006  on  the  European  Pollutant  Release  and 
Transfer Register (E-PRTR). 
101  European  Commission,  Industrial  emissions  policy  country  profile  – 
Slovakia.  
102 European Environment Agency, European Industrial Emissions Portal. 

103  European  Environment  Agency,  EU  Registry,  European  Industrial 
Emissions Portal (data retrieved on 3 November 2021).  
104  The  heavy  metals  are  presented  both  as  a  weighted  sum  of  eco 
toxicity and human toxicity factors to illustrate both the ecological and 
human impact (based on USEtox). 
105 European Environment Agency, LRTAP, Air pollutant emissions data 
viewer  (Gothenburg  Protocol,  LRTAP  Convention)  1990-2019  (data 
retrieved on 3 November 2021).  

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Slovakia  22 

Slovakia  as  one  of  the  main  countries  responsible  for 
in  2017106.  It  has  also 
damage  from  heavy  metals 
identified    U.S.Steel  in  Košice,  the  installation  for  the 
production of iron and steel , as one of the 30 industrial 
facilities  in  Europe  having  the  highest  absolute  damage 
costs  from  emissions  of  the  main  air  pollutants  and 
greenhouse gases over the five-year period 2013–2017.  

industrial  emissions  to 
Environmental  burdens  from 
water  mainly  result  from  ferrous  metal  production  for 
nitrogen, from pulp, paper and wood production for total 
organic  carbon  and  phosphorous  and  from  energy 
generation in the case of heavy metals. The breakdown, 
based on E-PRTR data, is presented in Figure 20. 

years,  depending  on  the  environmental  risks  posed  by 
the installations. No information  was available in the EU 
Registry at the time of reporting about the number of site 
visits  carried  out  by  Slovakia,  unlike  for  other  Member 
States108. 

The  development  of  Best  Available  Techniques  (BAT) 
Reference  Documents  (BREFs)  and  BAT  Conclusions 
ensures  a  good  collaboration  with  stakeholders  and 
enables  better  implementation  of  the  IED109.  Since  the 
last EIR report, BAT Conclusions were adopted for  waste 
incineration,  for  the  food,  drink  and  milk  industries  and 
for  surface  treatment  using  organic  solvents  including 
wood and wood products preservation with chemicals. 

Figure  20:  Relative  releases  to  water  from  industry  in 
Slovakia, 2018107 

The EU approach  on enforcement  under the IED creates 
strong  rights  for  citizens  to  have  access  to  relevant 
information and to participate in the permitting process. 
This  empowers  citizens,  and  NGOs,  to  ensure  that 
permits  are  appropriately  granted  and  their  conditions 
inspection, 
respected.  As  part  of  environmental 
competent  authorities  undertake  site  visits  to 
IED 
installations  to  take  samples  and  to  gather  necessary 
information. Under Article 23(4) of the IED, site visits are 
carried  out  between  once  every  year  and  once  every  3 

The  Commission  relies  on  the  efforts  of  national 
competent  authorities  to  implement  the  legally  binding 
BAT  conclusions  and  associated  BAT  emission  levels  in 
environmental  permits,  resulting  in  considerable  and 
continuous reduction of pollution.  

In  2019,  Slovakia  received  priority  actions  to  review 
permits  to  comply  with  new  adopted  BAT  conclusions 
and  to  strengthen  control  and  enforcement  to  ensure 
compliance  with  BAT  conclusions.  It  has  not  been 
possible  for  the  Commission  to  follow  up  these  actions 
through  the  reporting  to  the  EU  Registry  because 
Slovakia  did  not  report.  The  priority  actions  therefore 
remain  valid.  The  reporting  delays  also  concern  the 
reporting to the E-PRTR.  

In  2019,  Slovakia  also  received  the  priority  action  to 
address  air  pollution  from  lignite-fired  power  plants, 
from the steel sector and from oil refining. As mentioned 
above,  emissions  of  heavy  metals  to  air,  in  particular 
from the iron and steel sector, remain relevant. 

Slovakia  has  several  gaps  in  the  transposition  of  the 
Directive  2010/75/EU on  industrial  emissions.  Among 
these,  certain  permit  conditions  are  not  correctly 
implemented,  the  scope  of  the  definition  of  substantial 
change 
is  narrower  and  the  requirement  that  a 
competent  natural  person  manages  the  plant  is  not 
transposed  into  national  legislation.  For  the  reasons 
mentioned  above,  the  Commission  decided  to  send  a 
letter of formal notice to Slovakia in October 2020110. 

2022 priority actions 

106 EEA (2021). Costs of air pollution from European industrial  facilities 
2008–2017. Eionet Report - ETC/ATNI 2020/4. The ranking is based on 
the approach accounting for the value of a life year (VOLY). 
107  European  Environment  Agency,  E-PRTR,  European 
Industrial 
Emissions  Portal.  The  heavy  metals  are  presented  both  as  a  weighted 
sum  of  eco  toxicity  and  human  toxicity  factors  to  illustrate  both  the 
ecological  and  human  impact  (based  on  USEtox)  (data  retrieved  on  3 
November 2021).  

108  Slovak  Enviromental  Inspectorate  publishes  its  reports  on  the 
national portal. 
109 European Commission BAT reference documents 
110 Commission calls on Slovakia to improve domestic rules on pollution 
arising from industrial activities 
October infringements package: key decisions (europa.eu)  

Environmental Implementation Review 2022 – Slovakia 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
 
                                                 
  Review of permits to comply with new adopted BAT 

 

Conclusions.  
Strengthen  control  and  enforcement  to  ensure 
compliance with BAT Conclusions. 

Figure 21: Number of Seveso establishments in Slovakia, 
2011, 2014 and 2018114 

Slovakia  23 

  Address emissions of heavy metals to air. 
  Address  pollution 
processing.   
Improve reporting related to the E-PRTR. 

 

from  metal  production  and 

industrial  accidents  prevention  – 

Major 
SEVESO  

The  main  objectives  of  EU  policy  on  the  prevention  of 
major industrial accidents are to: 
(i)  control  major  accident  hazards  involving  dangerous 
substances, especially chemicals;  
(ii)  limit  the  consequences  of  such  accidents  for  human 
health and the environment;  
(iii)  continuously  improve  prevention,  preparedness  and 
response to major accidents.  

The cornerstone of the policy is the Directive 2012/18/EU 
(the Seveso-III Directive)111. 

The  below  overview  of  industrial  plants  regulated  by 
Seveso III Directive (‘Seveso establishments’)  is based on 
data  reported  to  the  eSPIRS  database  (2018)112  and  the 
Slovakia’s report on the implementation of the Seveso III 
Directive for period 2015-2018113. 

In Slovakia, among the 83 Seveso establishments, 41 are 
categorised as lower-tier establishments (LTE) and 42 as 
upper-tier establishments (UTE)  – based on  the quantity 
of hazardous substances likely to be present. The UTE are 
subject to more stringent requirements. The evolution of 
the  number  of  Seveso  establishments  is  presented  in 
Figure 21.  

According to Slovakia, the External Emergency Plan (EEP) 
is required for 42 UTE. In 2018, 42 UTE had an EEP and 41 
of these plans had been tested over the last 3 years. The 
summary is shown in Figure 22. These EEPs are essential 
to 
effective 
implementation  of  the  necessary  actions  to  protect  the 
environment  and  the  population,  should  a  major 
industrial accident nevertheless happen. 

preparation 

proper 

allow 

and 

Figure 22: Situation regarding EEP in Slovakia, 2018115 

The  information  to  the  public  referred  to  in  Annex  V  of 
the  Seveso  III  Directive  –  especially  how  the  public 
concerned will be warned if there is a major accident; the 
appropriate  behaviour  in  the  event  of  a  major  accident; 
and  the  date  of  the  last  site  visit  –  are  permanently 
available  for  100%  of  the  Seveso  establishments  in 
Slovakia.  

The  statistics  on  UTE,  for  which  information  on  safety 
measures  and  requisite  behaviours  were  actively  made 

111  Directive  2012/18/EU  on  the  control  of  major-accident  hazards 
involving dangerous substances 
112 European Commission, Seveso Plants Information Retrieval System.  
113 As provided for by Article 21(2) of the Seveso-III Directive 

114 European Commission, Assessment and summary of Member States’ 
implementation  reports  for 
Implementing  Decision  2014/896/EU 
(implementing  Directive  2012/18/EU  on  the  control  of  major  accident 
hazards involving dangerous substances), 2022. 
115 idem 

Environmental Implementation Review 2022 – Slovakia 

 
 
 
                                                 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Slovakia  24 

disease  annually120.  Moreover,  some  40  000  people 
suffer from disturbed sleep. In Slovakia, people  exposed 
to noise fell by 7% between 2012 and 2017. On the basis 
of  the  latest  full  set  of  information  that  has  been 
analysed,  noise  mapping  of  agglomerations,  roads  and 
railways  is  complete.  However,  The  Court  of  Justice  of 
the European Union stated in its judgment of 13 January 
2022121  that  Slovakia  had  failed  to  draw  up  on  time 
action  plans  for  certain  major  roads  and  major  railways 
and  to  communicate  to  the  European  Commission 
summaries  of  those  action  plans.  These  instruments, 
adopted after a public consultation had been carried out, 
should include the measures to keep noise low or reduce 
it. 

In the 2019 EIR, Slovakia received two priority actions to 
complete noise maps and action plans: as detailed above, 
there  has  been  limited  progress  for  completing  noise 
plans. 

2022 Priority Action 

 

Complete  action  plans  for  noise  management  of 
major roads and major railways. 

Water quality and management 

EU  legislation  and  policy  requires  that  the  impact  of 
pressures  on  transitional,  coastal  and  fresh  waters 
(including  surface  and  ground  waters)  be  significantly 
reduced.  Achieving,  maintaining  or  enhancing  a  good 
status  of  water  bodies  as  defined  by  the  Water 
Framework Directive  will  ensure that  EU citizens benefit 
from good quality and safe drinking and bathing water. It 
will  further  ensure  that  the  nutrient  cycle  (nitrogen  and 
phosphorus)  is  managed  in  a  more  sustainable  and 
resource-efficient way. 

available to the public over the last years, are presented 
in Figure 23.  

Slovakia  has  an  ongoing  infringement,  initiated  by  the 
Commission in 2021, regarding transposition of the Seveso 
III Directive116. 

Figure 23: Share of UTE for which information on safety 
measures and requisite behaviour were actively made 
available to the public in Slovakia for 2011, 2014 and 
2018117 

Noise 

The  Environmental  Noise  Directive  provides  for  a 
common  approach  to  avoid,  prevent  and  reduce  the 
harmful  effects  of  exposure  to  environmental  noise,  
although  it  does  not  set  noise  limits  as  such.  The  main 
instruments  it  uses  in  this  respect  are  strategic  noise 
mapping and planning. A key target under the  2030 Zero 
Pollution  action  plan  is  to  reduce  by  30%  the  share  of 
people 
transport  noise 
compared to 2017. 

chronically  disturbed  by 

Excessive noise from aircraft, railways and roads is one of 
the  main  causes  of  environmental  health‐related  issues 
in  the  EU.  It  leads  to  ischaemic  heart  disease,  stroke, 
interrupted sleep, cognitive impairment and stress118. 

limited  set  of  data119, 
In  Slovakia,  based  on  a 
environmental  noise  is  estimated  to  cause  at  least    100 
premature  deaths  and  300  cases  of  ischaeimic  heart 

116  Prevention  of  major  accidents  involving  dangerous  substances: 
Commission calls on  Slovakia  to  improve  its national  rules:  September 
infringements package: key decisions (europa.eu) 
117 European Commission, Assessment and summary of Member States’ 
implementation  reports  for 
Implementing  Decision  2014/896/EU 
(implementing  Directive  2012/18/EU  on  the  control  of  major  accident 
hazards involving dangerous substances), 2022. 
118 WHO 2018, Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region 
119  For  further  information:  European  Environment  Agency,  Noise  Fact 
Sheets 2021. 

120  These  figures  are  an  estimation  by  the  European  Environmental 
Agency  based  on:  (i)  the  data  reported  by  Member  States  on  noise 
exposure  covered  by  Directive  2002/49/EC;  (ii)  ETC/ATNI,  2021,  Noise 
indicators under the Environmental Noise Directive 2021: Methodology 
for  estimating  missing  data,  ETC/ATNI  Report  No  2021/06,  European 
Topic Centre on Air Pollution, Transport, Noise and Industrial Pollution; 
(iii)  the  methodology  for  health  impact  calculations,  ETC/ACM,  2018, 
Implications of environmental noise on health and wellbeing in Europe, 
Eionet  Report  ETC/ACM  No  2018/10,  European  Topic  Centre  on  Air 
Pollution and Climate Change Mitigation. 
121  Case  No  C-683/20,  ECLI:EU:C:2022:22,  CURIA 
(europa.eu)  

-  Documents 

Environmental Implementation Review 2022 – Slovakia 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
 
                                                 
Slovakia  25 

unclear  whether  all  relevant  pressures  had  been 
identified  for  the  water  bodies  that  are  not  monitored 
but  assessed  as  being  in  good  chemical  status).  For 
groundwaters,  10.8%  failed  to  achieve  good  chemical 
status  and  2.9%  are  in  poor  quantitative  status  (but 
26.5%  of  the  groundwater  geothermal  bodies  were 
unmonitored). 

in 

justified 

As reported in the 2019 EIR, the required justification on 
exemption regarding new projects, which potentially can 
affect the status of water bodies, weas not in place in the 
second RBMPs for Danube and Vistula RBDs. Slovakia was 
therefore  asked  to  ensure  that  such  projects  are 
thoroughly  assessed  and 
line  with  the 
requirements  in  the  Water  Framework  Directive.  Hydro 
power  stations129  were  named  as  an  example  that  can 
lead to new changes in the physical (hydromorphological) 
to 
characteristics  of  surface  water  bodies.  Due 
transposition  and  application  gaps  relating  to  provisions 
in  several  pieces  of  EU  legislation,  including  the  WFD, 
small  hydro  powerplants  are  subject  to  an  infringement 
proceedings launched by the Commission. In this regards, 
an additional letter of formal notice was sent to Slovakia 
in February 2022130.  

Figure  24  illustrates  the proportion  of  surface  water 
bodies in Slovakia and 
countries 
European 
other 
that failed to achieve good ecological status.  

Water Framework Directive 

(WFD)122 

the 
is 
The  Water  Framework  Directive 
in  the  21st 
cornerstone  of  the  EU’s  water  policy 
century123.  The  WFD,  along  with  other  water-related 
legislation124,  set  the  framework  for  sustainable  and 
integrated water management, which aims at a high level 
of  protection  of  water  resources,  prevention  of  further 
deterioration and restoration to good status. 

By  March  2022,  Member  States  had  to  report  the  third 
generation  of  River  Basin  Management  Plans  (RBMPs) 
under  the  WFD.  Slokavia  has  reported  on  time.  The 
Commission  will  now  assess  the  reported  status  and 
progress,  checking  how  the  findings  identified  in  the 
the  second  RBMPs125  have  been 
assessment  of 
addressed.  

It 

in 

on 

includes  an 

implementing 

In  December  2021,  the  Commission  published  the  sixth 
Implementation  Report126. 
interim 
assessment 
the 
progress 
Programmes of Measures and  on monitoring of the new 
priority substance. The assessment report for  Slovakia127 
showed  that  since  the  beginning  of  the  second  RBMPs, 
both  river  basin  districts  (RBDs),  Vistula  and  Danube, 
have  started  with  either  implementation  of  proposed 
measures  or  with  preparatory  activities.  As  most  of  the 
measures  are  planned  for  the  Danube  RBD,  progress  is 
more  visible  ifor  this  RBD.  The  assessment  concluded 
in  reaching  WFD 
that  despite  progress  achieved 
objectives in Slovakia, it was not clear from the provided 
information, whether this progress is sufficient enough to 
fulfil the WFD obligation for the year 2021.  

Based  on  reporting  and  data  in  the  second  RBMPs, 
published  in  2020128,  in Slovakia, 52.6% of  all  surface 
water  bodies reach  good  ecological  status/potential  and 
3.6% 
reach  very  good  ecological  status/potential,   
and 97.5% have  good  chemical  status  (although  it  is 

122 The Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC). 
123 The EU Water Policy. 
124  This 
includes  the  Groundwater  Directive  (2006/118/EC),  the 
Environmental  Quality  Standards  Directive  (2008/105/EC),  the  Floods 
Directive  (2007/60/EC),  the  Bathing  Water  Directive  (2006/7/EC),  the 
Urban  Waste  Water  Treatment  Directive  (91/271/EEC),  the  new 
Drinking  Water  Directive  (2020/2184/EC),  the  Nitrates  Directive 
(91/676/EEC),  the  Marine  Strategy  Framework  Directive  (2008/56/EC),  
the Industrial Emissions Directive (2010/75/EU) and the new Regulation 
on minimum requirements for water reuse (2020/741). 
125  Detailed  information  can  ben  found  in  the  5th  Report  from  the 
Commission on the implementation of the Water Framework Directive 
and the Floods Directive, as well as in the 2019 EIR. 
126 See the 6th Implementation Report of the WFD and FD. 
127  European  Commission,  Directorate-General 
for  Environment, 
Assessment  of  Member  States’  progress  in  Programmes  of  Measures 
during  the  second  planning  cycle  of  the  Water  Framework  Directive. 
Member State: Slovakia, 2022. 
128 WISE Freshwater (europa.eu) 

129 Court Decision in Small Hydropower Case: The Public Interest Takes 
Precedent over Private Business | WWF (panda.org) 
130 Environmental assessments: Commission calls on SLOVAKIA to assess 
the  national  plan  on  the  usage  of  hydro  energetic  potential:  February 
infringements 
(europa.eu)  
key 
Namely, only 4 out of 37 small hydro power plants listed in the Slovak 
national  plan  were  made  subject  to  the  strategic  environmental 
assessment in accordance with the Strategic Environmental Assessment 
Directive.  Leaving  out  the  vast  majority  means  that  the  authorities 
could  not  identify  the  options  that  would  cause  the  least  amount  of 
harm to the environment. 

decisions 

package: 

Environmental Implementation Review 2022 – Slovakia 

 
                                                 
 
                                                 
Figure 24: Proportion of surface water bodies (rivers, 
lakes, transitional and coastal waters) in less than good 
ecological status per River Basin District131 

Unter the IED framework, it should be stressed that over 
the  last  decade  Slovakia  showed  a  significant  decrease 
(37.5%)  in  releases  of  heavy  metals  like  Cd,  Hg,  Ni,  Pb  
and in total organic carbon -TOC (36.3%) to water133. 

Slovakia  26 

Total  water  abstracted  annually  (corresponding  to  2019 
baseline) 
in Slovakia  from  surface  and  groundwater 
sources is 566.79 hm3  (EEA,  2022).  The  percentage  for 
water  abstraction  per  sector  is  5.06%  for  agriculture, 
51.58%  for  public  water  supply,  9.62%  for  electricity 
cooling, 
for 
manufacturing  cooling,  and  0.10%  for  mining  and 
quarrying,  as  illustrated  in  Figure  26.  Slovakia uses  a 
register to 
abstractions,  but small 
abstractions  do  not  require  permits  in  Slovakia  and  not 
all are registered.  

for  manufacturing, 

control  water 

27.93% 

5.71% 

Figure 26: Water abstraction per sector in Slovakia134  

Figure  25  presents  the  percentage of surface  water 
bodies in Slovakia and other European countries failing to 
achieve  good  chemical  status.  For  Slovakia, 
the 
percentage  is  2.5%,  if  one  includes  water  bodies  failing 
due  to  substances  behaving  as  ubiquitous  (persistent, 
bio-accumulative  and  toxic  -  uPBTs).  Without  these 
substances,  the  percentage  of  surface  water  bodies 
failing to achieve good chemical status remains the same.  

Figure 25: Percentage  of  surface  water  bodies  not 
achieving good chemical status132 

exploitation 

In Slovakia, the  water 
plus 
(WEI+)135 is 0.39% (corresponding to year 2017136), which 
is less than  the  20%  that is generally considered  as  an 
indication  of  water  scarcity.  Slovakia is  ranked 23rd 
(from high to low score) in terms of WEI+ within the EU. 

index 

133  Water  pollutant  releases  changes  from  2010  to  2019  for  the  EU 
Member States — European Environment Agency (europa.eu) 
134  European  Environment  Agency,  Water  abstraction  by  source  and 
economic sector in Europe, 2022. 
135 The Water Exploitation Index plus (WEI+) is a measure of total fresh 
water  use  as  a  percentage  of  the  renewable  fresh  water  resources 
(groundwater and surface water) at a given time and place. It quantifies 
how  much  water  is  abstracted  and  how  much  water  is  returned  after 
use to the environment. 
136  By  May  2022,  EEA  will  develop  seasonal  WEI+  at  river  basin  and 
NUTS2  level,  which  provide  a  more  complete  picture  of  water  stress 
and water scarcity for each Member State. 

131 European Environment Agency, 2021 
132 European Environment Agency, December 2019.  

Environmental Implementation Review 2022 – Slovakia 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
 
 
 
                                                 
Figure 27 :. Water exploitation index plus (WEI+) inside 
EU137  

fewer  areas  for  the  second  cycle,  in  order  to  consider 
wider effects. 

Slovakia  27 

yet 

adopted 

and 
Slovakia has not 
of Flood 
reported the second generation 
Risk Management  Plans 
the Floods 
Directive141.  The  Commission will assess  progress  since 
the adoption of the first FRMPs and publish a new report, 
as done in 2019.  

(FRMPs) under 

Drinking Water Directive 

On the Drinking Water Directive142, the last report on the 
quality of drinking water for 2017-2019 was reported by 
Slovakia  in  March  2020143.  The  quality  of  drinking  water 
in Slovakia has not been indicated as an area of a concern 
but pressures on drinking water sources, especially from 
old environmental burdens, are numerous. 

The  recast  Directive144  entered  into  force  on  12  January 
2021  and  Member  States  have  until  12  January  2023  to 
transpose it into their national legal system. Slovakia will 
have to comply with these reviewed quality standards. 

Bathing Water Directive 

Regarding  the  Bathing  Water  Directive,  Figure  28  shows 
that,  in  2020,  out  of  32  Slovak  bathing  waters, 56.3% 
were  of  excellent  quality145.  Detailed  information  on 
is  available  from  a  national 
Slovak  bathing  waters 
portal146  and  via  an  interactive  map  viewer  of  the 
European Environment Agency. 

Figure  28:  Bathing  water  quality  in  Europe  in  the  2020 
season147 

As  regards  good  practices,  it  is  worth  mentioning  that 
Slovakia  launched  public  consultations  for  the  third  
RBMPs  one  year  before  the  adoption  deadline  and 
conducted  the  public  consultations  in  a  transparent 
manner,  including  online  workshops138  on  various  topics 
of river basin management  planning.  Stakeholders could 
provide feedback online or in written format.    

Slovakia’s  RRP  139  supports  investments  and  reforms  in 
the  area  of  water  management  and  landscape  planning 
to  preserve  biodiversity.  The  investment  is  planned  to 
result  in  90km  renatured  watercourses.  The  RRP  also 
boosts  water  efficiency  (water  retention  systems)  in 
building sector. 

Floods Directives 

As  previously  mentioned, 
in  December  2021  the 
Commission  published  the  sixth  Implementation  Report. 
It  includes  the  review  and  update  of  the  Preliminary 
Flood  Risk  Assessments  during  the  second  cycle  (2016-
2021). 

report140 

showed 

The  assessment 
that  Slovakia 
recommended the  provision of a  methodology to define 
what  constituted  a  ’significant  flood‘  at  the  time  of  the 
flooding and the necessity for more details and clarity on 
criteria  relating to how human health, the environment, 
cultural  heritage  and  economic  activity  have  been 
considered  for  arriving  at  areas  of  potential  significant 
flood risk (APSFRs). On the positive is the consolidation of 
fragmented  geographical  areas  of  potentially  significant 
risk  which  were  identified  during  the  first  cycle,  into 

137 European Environment Agency, Water exploitation Index Plus, 2022.  
 Statistics | Eurostat (europa.eu) 
138 https://www.minzp.sk/voda/vodny-plan-slovenska/ 
139  Slovakia’s  recovery  and  resilience  plan  |  European  Commission 
(europa.eu) 
140  European  Commission,  Directorate-General 
for  Environment, 
Assessment  of  Second  Cycle  Preliminary  Flood  Risk  Assessments  and 
Identification  of  Areas  of  Potential  Significant  Flood  Risk  under  the 
Floods Directive: Member State: Slovakia, 2022 

141 According to information of Slovak authorities, it is planned by June 
2024. 
142 OJ L 330, 5.12.1998, p. 32–54. 
143 https://cdr.eionet.europa.eu/sk/eu/dwd/envydixpw 
144 OJ L 435, 23.12.2020, p. 1–62. 
145  European  Environment  Agency,  2021.  State  of  bathing  water  — 
European Environment Agency (europa.eu), p. 17. 
146 Zoznamy vôd určených na kúpanie (uvzsr.sk)  
147 European Environment Agency, Bathing Water Quality in 2020, 2022. 

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Slovakia  28 

authorities  and  farmers  have  cleaned  up  waters,  it  has 
had  a  positive  impact  on  drinking  water  supply  and 
biodiversity,  and  on  the  sectors,  such  as  fisheries  and 
tourism  that  depend  on  them.  Nevertheless,  excessive 
fertilisation remains a problem in many parts of the EU.  

Infringement  cases  against  Slovakia  on  water  quality 
monitoring  and  the  nitrate  action  programme  were 
closed  in  2019.  Nevertheless,  according  to  the  above 
mentioned  report,  Slovakia  is  among  those  Member 
States,  in  which  nitrates  vulnerable  zones  (NVZs)151  are 
sometimes  very  limited  areas  that  do  not  take  into 
account the whole water catchment area. This results in 
a  very  fragmented  designation  and  a  reduced  efficiency 
of action programmes.  

Figure 29: Slovakia, bathing water quality 2017-2020148 

Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive 

(UWWTD). 

Slovakia  has,  over  the  years,  encountered  difficulties  in 
meeting  its  obligations  under  the  Urban  Waste  Water 
Treatment  Directive 
are  356 
agglomerations 
reported  under  UWWTD  with  a 
population equivalent of 2 000 or more in Slovakia. As of 
its  2003  Treaty  on 
31  December   2015  (as  set 
Accession),  compliance  with  the  requirements  of  the 
Directive had to be ensured for all these agglomerations.  

There 

in 

As  regards  the  intermediate  deadlines  of  2004,  2008, 
2010  and  2012,  according  to  the  Commission  analyses, 
233 agglomerations failed to provide a collecting system 
or  to  ensure  that  individual  systems  achieve  the  same 
level  of  environmental  protection  as  required  by  the 
Directive.  Another  32  agglomerations  failed  to  ensure 
that  urban  waste  water  entering  collecting  systems  is 
subject to secondary or more stringent treatment before 
discharge.  As  regards  the  final,  2015  deadline    ,  17 
agglomerations  failed  to  provide  a  collecting  system 
and/or  to  ensure  that  the  urban  waste  water  entering 
collecting systems is treated appropriately.  

in 

Slovakia, 

compliance 

Overall, 
for 
the 
agglomerations reported under UWWTD is 93%, which is 
higher  than  the  EU  average  in  2018.  7%  of  urban 
wastewater  in  Slovakia  is  not  collected  and/or  does  not 
meet  the  requirements  for  biological  treatment152. 
Nevertheless,  according  to  the  OECD,  only  65%  of  the 

rate 

151  areas  draining  into  these  waters  affected  and  at  risk  of  being 
affected by nitrates pollution where agriculture contributes significantly 
to this pollution 
152  Country  profiles  on  urban  waste  water  treatment:  Slovakia 
(europa.eu) 

Nitrates Directive 

The latest Commission Report on the implementation of 
the Nitrates Directive149, covering the period 2016-2019, 
warns  that  nitrates  are  still  causing  harmful  pollution  to 
water  in  the  EU150.  Excessive  nitrates  in  water  are 
harmful  to  both  human  health  and  ecosystems,  causing 
oxygen  depletion  and  eutrophication.  Where  national 

148  European  Environment  Agency,  European  Bathing  Water  Quality  in 
2017, 2018, 2019, 2020. 
149  Commission  Report  on  the  implementation  of  Council  Directive 
91/676/EEC  concerning  the  protection  of  waters  against  pollution 
caused  by  nitrates  from  agricultural  sources  based  on  Member  State 
reports  for  the  period  2016–2019  -  Publications  Office  of  the  EU 
(europa.eu) 
150  Staff  Working  Document  accompanying  the  report  on  the 
implementation of the Nitrates Directive for the period 2016-2019 

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Slovakia  29 

Slovak  population  benefit  from  a  connection  to  a 
wastewater treatment plant153.  

Figure  30:  The  proportion  of  urban  waste  water  that 
meets  all  requirements  of  the  UWWTD  (collection, 
biological treatment, biological treatment with nitrogen 
and/or  phosphorus  removal)  in  compliant  urban  areas 
of the UWWTD (‘compliance rate’) 

Environment'155  which  led  to  some  systemic  changes  in 
EU  chemicals  legislation.  The  strategy is  part  of  the  EU's 
zero-pollution  ambition  –  a  key  commitment  of  the 
European Green Deal 

legislation156 provides  baseline 
The  EU’s  chemicals 
protection for human health and the environment. It also 
ensures  stability  and  predictability 
for  businesses 
operating within the EU single market.  

Since 2007, the Commission has gathered information on 
the  enforcement  of  two  regulations:  the  Registration, 
Evaluation,  Authorisation  and  Restriction  of  Chemicals 
(REACH)  and  the  Classification,  Labelling  and  Packaging  
(CLP).  In  December  2020,  the  Commission  assessed  the 
reports from Member States on the implementation and 
enforcement  of  these  Regulations157,  in  line  with  REACH 
Article  117(1)  and  CLP  Article  46(2).  According  to  the 
latest  available  data,  national  enforcement  structures 
have  not  changed  much.  However,  it  is  apparent  from 
this  report  that  there  are  still  many  disparities  in  the 
REACH-CLP  implementation,    notably  in  the  area  of  law 
enforcement.  Recorded  compliance  levels  seem  to  be 
quite stable over time, but with a slight worsening trend 
likely  due  to  enforcement  authorities  being  more 
effective in detecting non-compliant products/companies 
and  more  non-compliant  products  being  put  on  the  EU 
market.  In  August  2021,  using  a  set  of  indicators  on 
different  aspects  of  enforcement,  the  Commission 
the 
published 
enforcement158  of  the  two  main  EU  Regulations  on 
chemicals.   

a  measurable 

assessment 

of 

Responsibility  for  checking  compliance  with  REACH  in 
Slovakia lies with the Slovak Trade Inspection159. Slovakia 
has  devised  and 
implemented  enforcement 
strategies for both the REACH and the CLP Regulations160.  

fully 

reporting  period 

In Slovakia only 17 staff are allocated to REACH and CLP 
enforcement161. Accordingly, REACH controls for SMEs in 
remain 
the 
251  well 
below average.   Most  of 
the  REACH  controls  are 
proactive  (inspections),  compared  with  reactive/non-
routine  controls  (i.e. 
in  response  to 
complaints, accidents and referrals). Although the actual 
level of expertise has increased since the last reporting, it 

investigations 

at 

155 COM(2020) 667 final. 
156  REACH: OJ L 396, 30.12.2006, p.1. -  CLP: OJ L 252, 31.12.2006, p.1 
157 European Commission, Final Report, on the operation of REACH and 
CLP, Final report_REACH-CLP MS reporting_2020.pdf (europa.eu)  
158  European  Commission,  REACH  and  CLP  enforcement:  EU  level 
enforcement indicators 
159 Final report_REACH-CLP MS reporting_2020.pdf (europa.eu), p. 71 
160 Final report_REACH-CLP MS reporting_2020.pdf (europa.eu), p. 76. 
161 European Commission, Final Report, on the operation of REACH and 
CLP, Final report_REACH-CLP MS reporting_2020.pdf (europa.eu), p. 75.  

Despite  the  improvement  in  compliance  throughout  the 
years,  for  which  the  use  of  EU  funding  has  been 
fundamental,  the  incomplete  implementation  of  the 
UWWTD  led  to  an  infringement  case  being  opened 
against  Slovakia in  2021, in addition to the one initiated 
in 2016154.  

2022 priority actions 

 

In 

these 

  New  physical  modifications  of  water  bodies  should 
be  assessed  in  line  with  Article  4(7)  of  the  Water 
Framework  Directive. 
assessments 
alternative  options  and  adequate  mitigation 
measures have to be considered. 
Continue  current  efforts  to  further  reduce  nitrates 
pollution from agriculture in groundwater. 
Efforts  should  be  made  to  improve  the  coordinated 
implementation across water and nature policies. 
Complete 
implementation  of  the  Urban  Waste 
Water Treatment Directive for all agglomerations, by 
building up the necessary infrastructure. 

 

 

Chemicals 

The EU seeks to ensure that chemicals are produced and 
used  in  a  way  that  minimises  any  significant  adverse 
effects  on  human  health  and  the  environment.  In 
October  2020,  the  Commission published  its  chemicals 
'Towards  a  Toxic-Free 
strategy  for  sustainability 

- 

153  Policy-Paper-Making-the-Slovak-Republic-a-more-resource-efficient-
economy.pdf (oecd.org) 
154 December infringements package: key decisions (europa.eu) 

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Slovakia  30 

is still not sufficient for some specific tasks under REACH, 
namely in relation to risk management and some specific 
areas  of  concern  such  as  nanomaterials  and  endocrine 
disruptors.  The  percentage  of  non-compliance  cases  out 
of the total number of REACH and CLP controls is almost 
equal to the EU average162. 

Figure  31:  Percentage  of  non-compliance  cases  out  of 
the  total  number  of  REACH  and  CLP  controls  during 
2019,  per  Member  State  and  compared  with  the  EU 
average163 

2022 priority action 

  Upgrade 

implementation 

enforcement 
administrative capacities towards a zero tolerance for 
non-compliances.

and 

162  Final report_REACH-CLP MS reporting_2020.pdf (europa.eu), p. 87-
88.  
163 European Commission, WISE Freshwater, 2021. 

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Slovakia  31 

4. Climate action 

Key national climate policies and strategies  

Slovakia has an integrated National Energy and Climate 
Plan (NECP) 2021-2030. The Slovak NECP will require an 
update, in view of the EU’s increased climate ambitions 
for 2030 and the developments related to the invasion 
of  Ukraine.  Slovakia 
is  bound  to  reaching  climate 
neutrality  in  line  with  the  EU  general  target  by  2050. 
Slovakia    also  has  a  long-term  strategy:  Low-Carbon 
Development Strategy of the Slovak Republic until 2030 
with a view to 2050167. 

In its RRP, Slovakia allocates 45% of the plan to climate 
objectives.  It  outlines  crucial  reforms  and  investments 
to  further  the  transition  to  a  more  sustainable,  low-
carbon  and  climate-resilient  economy. Investments  are 
made  in  transport  and  climate  adaptation,  large-scale 
buildings’  renovations  and  renewable  energy  and 
industry decarbonisation schemes. 

Slovakia  has  a  national  adaptation  strategy168.  The 
Climate  Change  Adaptation  National  Action  Plan  was 
approved  in  2021169.  In  Slovakia,  there  are  no  legal 
arrangements  on  climate  change  adaptation.  The 
elaboration of climate law is one of the emerging tasks. 

Between 1990 and 2020, economy wide greenhouse gas 
emissions  decreased  by  49%.  At  the  same  time,  the 
greenhouse  gas 
intensity  of  the  economy  remains 
significantly higher than the EU average. 

law  also 

legislation 

In  line  with  the  Paris  Agreement  and  as  part  of  the 
European  Green  Deal,  the  European  Climate  Law  sets 
the EU target of reaching climate neutrality by 2050 and 
reducing its greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 55% by 
2030  compared  to  1990.  The 
limits  the 
contribution  that  carbon  removals  can  make  towards 
emission  reductions  in  2030  to  ensure  that  there  is 
sufficient mitigation effort.  
The  EU  and  its  Member  States  submitted  updated 
Nationally  Determined  Contribution  (NDC)  to  the 
UNFCCC in December 2020.  
The EU is working across all  sectors and policies to cut 
GHG  emissions  and  make  the  transition  to  climate-
neutral and sustainable economy, as well as addressing 
unavoidable consequences of climate change.  
EU  climate 
incentivises  GHG  emissions 
reductions  from  power  generation,  industry,  transport, 
the  maritime  sector  and  fluorinated  gases  (F-gases) 
used in products.  
For road transport, EU legislation requires GHG intensity 
of  vehicle  fuels  to  be  cut  by  6%  by  2020  compared  to 
2010164  and  sets  binding    GHG  emission  standards  for 
different vehicle categories165.  
Under F-gas Regulation, the EU’s F-gas emissions will be 
cut by two-thirds by 2030 compared with 2014 levels.  
From 2021 emissions and removals of greenhouse gases 
from  land  use,  land-use  change  and  forestry  (LULUCF)  
have  been  included  in  the  EU  emission  reduction 
efforts.  
The  EU  adaptation  policy  is  an  integral  part  of  the 
European  Green  Deal.  From  2021,  Member  States  are 
required  to  report  on  their  national  adaptation 
policies166, as the EU Climate Law recognises adaptation 
as a key component of the long-term global response to 
climate  change.  Member  States  will  be  required  to 
adopt  national  strategies,    and  the  EU    will  regularly 
assess progress  as part of the overall EU governance on 
climate  action.  The  updated  EU  adaptation  strategy,  
ppublished  in  February  2021,  sets  out  how  the  EU  can 
adapt to the unavoidable impacts of climate change and 
become climate resilient by 2050. 

164  The Fuel  Quality  Directive (Directive 98/70/EC)  sets  strict  quality 
requirements  for  fuels  used  in  road  transport  in  the  EU  to  protect 
human  health  and  the  environment,  and  to  make  road  travel  across 
the EU safer. 
165 Directive 98/70/EC 
166 Article 29 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999. 

167 Long-term Strategy was approved on 5 March 2020 by Government 
Resolution  No  104/  2020.  This  Strategy  aims  to  identify  measures, 
including  additional  measures,  to  achieve  climate  neutrality 
in 
Slovakia by 2050.  
168  National  adaptation  strategy  was  updated  and  approved  on  17 
October 2018 by Government Resolution No 478/2018, and the next 
National Adaptation Strategy shall be submitted to the government by 
end 2025. 
169  The  Action  Plan  contributes  to  a  better  reflection  of  adaptation 
measures in the 7 sectors: water protection, water management and 
water  use,  sustainable  agriculture,  adapted  forestry,  the  natural 
environment and biodiversity, health and healthy population, adapted 
residential environment and technical, economic and social measures: 
https://rokovania.gov.sk/RVL/Resolution/19453/1 

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Figure  32:  Total  greenhouse  gas  emissions  (incl. 
international aviation), 1990-2020 

Figure  34:  Emissions,  annual  emission  allocations 
(AEAs) and accumulated surplus/ deficit of AEAs under 
the Effort Sharing Decision in Slovakia, 2013-2020 

Slovakia  32 

Effort sharing target  

Key sectoral developments 

For emissions not covered by the EU  Emissions Trading 
System  (ETS),  Member  States  have  binding  national 
targets under the Effort Sharing legislation170.  Under EU 
legislation, Slovakia has a target of limiting any increase 
of  GHG  emissions  in  non-ETS  sectors  (buildings,  road 
and  domestic  maritime  transport,  agriculture,  waste 
and small industries) to a maximum of 13% by 2020 and 
to  reduce  emissions  by  12%  by  2030  compared  with 
2005 levels. Slovakia is estimated to largely overachieve 
its  current  national  targets  for  2020,  but  it  is  facing  a 
challenge with the national target of a 12% reduction by 
2030;  this  is  because  non-ETS  GHG  emissions  are 
projected to increase. 

Figure  33:    Emissions  and  targets  under  the  Effort 
Sharing Decision/ Effort Sharing Regulation in Slovakia, 
2020 and 2030 as percentage change from 2005 

On road transport, the GHG intensity of vehicle fuels in 
Slovakia  decreased  by  4%  from  2010  to  2019.  The 
country  needs  to  act  swiftly  to  meet  the  current  EU-
wide reduction target of 6%. There are several types of 
action  that  Member  States  can  take  in  this  regard. 
These include: further expanding the use of electricity in 
in 
road  transport;  supporting  the  use  of  biofuels, 
particular 
the 
development  and  deployment  of  renewable  fuels  of 
non-biological origin;  and reducing upstream emissions 
before refining processes. 

incentivising 

advanced 

biofuels, 

In 2020, road  transport  in Slovakia represented 18% of 
total GHG  emissions. Emissions have increased by 9.5% 
compared  with  2005.  As a  transit country, Slovakia has 
experienced  an  increase  in  emissions  in  transport, 
which  is  rapidly  becoming  the  largest  emitting  sector. 
Transport  emissions  are  projected  to  remain  at  these 
levels or even to increase under current policies. 

170 Regulation (EU) 2018/842 

 Environmental Implementation Review 2022 – Slovakia 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
 
 
Figure 35: Greenhouse gas emissions by sector171 – 
historical emissions 1990-2019, projections 2021-
2030172 

Figure  36:  Reported  and  accounted  emissions  and 
removals from LULUCF173 

Slovakia  33 

On  buildings,  emissions  have  decreased  substantially 
since 2005. 

Emissions from agriculture have stabilised since 2000. 

In  the  Land  Use,  Land  Use  Change  and  Forestry 
(LULUCF) sector, Slovakia projects a further decrease of 
net  removals  by  2030.  Reported  quantities  under  the 
Kyoto  Protocol  for  the  LULUCF  sector  in  Slovakia  show 
net  removals  of,  on  average,  -5.9MtCO2-eq  for  the 
period  2013  to  2019.  In  this  regard,  Slovakia  makes  a  
contribution  of  1.7%  to  the  EU-27  annual  average  sink 
of -344.9 MtCO2-eq of. Accounting for the same period 
depicts net credits of, on average, -2.2 MtCO2-eq, which 
corresponds  to  2.0%  of  the  EU-27  accounted  sink  of  -
115.0  MtCO2-eq.  There  is  a  notable  dynamic  and  a 
generally  decreasing  trend  of  reported  net  removals 
and  accounted  net  credits  with  marked  decreases  for 
2014 and 2018. 

Use of revenues from the auctioning of EU 
ETS allowances 

Total  revenues 
from  the  auctioning  of  emission 
allowances under the EU ETS over the years 2012-2021 
were  EUR  1.36  billion. 
In  Slovakia,  all  auctioning 
revenues  are  earmarked  and  go  to  the  Environmental 
Fund, which also receives money from other sources. 

2022 priority actions 

 

Improve  sustainable transport and increase  electro-
mobility 
charging 
and 
infrastructure. 

the  deployment  of 

  Seize  the  energy  efficiency  potential  by  further 
in  the  renovation  of  buildings  and 
investing 
replacing  domestic  heating 
systems,  and  as 
reforming the social housing investment framework. 
Higher  energy  efficiency 
these  areas  will 
considerably improve air quality, reduce energy bills 
and stimulate local employment. 
Increase  building  owners’  awareness  about  energy 
renovation and provide advisory services  

in 

 

171 The sectors in the figure correspond to the following IPCC sectors: 
Energy  supply:  1A1,  1B  and  1C.  Energy  use 
in  manufacturing 
industries:  1A2.  Industrial  processes  and  product  use:  2.  Transport: 
1A3.  Other  energy  use:  1A4,  1A5  and  6.  Agriculture:  3.  Waste:  5. 
International aviation: 1.D.1.a. 
172  European  Environmental  Agency,  Total  GHG 
projections. 

trends  and 

173  The  differences  between  reported  and  accounted  emissions  from 
LULUCF  under  the  Kyoto  Protocol  are  described  in  the  ‘explanatory 
note on LULUCF – accounted and reported quantities under the Kyoto 
Protocol’.   

 Environmental Implementation Review 2022 – Slovakia 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
 

Improve  the  low  quality  of  the  current  Energy 
Performance Certificates (EPC) for buildings. 

  Accelerate the deployment of renewables, the share 

of which has been stagnating for years.  

Slovakia  34 

  Ensure the sustainability of biomass. 
  Better safeguard landscape structures and ecological 
stability  in  protected  areas  (in  first  and  second 
protection 
the 
authorisation of buildings and activities.  

zones)  when 

considering 

  Revitalise  watercourses  that  would  contribute  to 
flood  protection,  drought  minimisation,  and  act 
against  a  qualitative  degradation  of  the  available 
water resources. 

  Realign  property  in  key  areas  of  national  parks, 
which  will  make  it  possible  to  declare  new  non-
intervention areas and the restoration of habitats.  
  The provision of new and more adapted skills on the 
labour  market  could  help  to  better  exploit  the  job-
creation potential of a climate-neutral economy and 
facilitate  the  labour  transition  of  those  workers  in 
the most energy- and carbon-intensive sectors. 

 Environmental Implementation Review 2022 – Slovakia 

 
 
 
 
Slovakia  35 

Part II: Enabling framework: implementation tools

5. Financing

Environmental investment needs in the 
European Union 

Financing  environmental  measures  is  essential  for  their 
success.  Although  most  financing  comes  from  national 
sources, various EU funds contribute significantly, helping 
to close the financing gaps.  
Post-2020,  environmental  implementation  will  also  be 
supported by the EU’s  COVID-19 Recovery  Fund (via  the 
Recovery  and  Resilience  Facility,  RRF)  and  the  ‘do  no 
significant  harm’  (DNSH)  principle  which  runs  across  the 
EU  budget.  The  renewed  commitments  made  at  COP26 
(Glasgow, October-November 2021) and the  Biodiversity 
Convention  (April-May  2022)174  will  also  be  reflected  in 
the EU budget. 

Overall environmental investment needs (EU 27) 

The EU’s investment needs for the green transition  cover 
a  range  of  interlinked  areas.  The  additional  investment 
needs  over  the  baselines  (i.e.  the  gap  between  what  is 
needed  and  what  is  forecast  to  be  invested  if  no 
additional  action 
is  taken)  for  climate,  energy  and 
transport  were  estimated  in  2021  at  EUR  390  billion  a 
year  (EU27)175,  with  a  further  EUR  130  billion  a  year  to 
deliver  the  EU's  core  environmental  objectives176.  The 
costs  of  climate  change  adaptation  can  also  be 
significant, and are estimated to reach a total of EUR 35-
62 billion (narrower scope) or EUR 158-518 billion (wider 
scope)  per  year177.  Those  investment  needs  reflect  the 
implementation  objectives  to  2020  and  to  2030  (except 

for  climate  change  adaptation,  the  costs  of  which    are 
expected to stay for longer time horizon). 

A  preliminary  update  of  the  EU’s  core  environmental 
investment gap is provided in Table 1178.  Almost 40% of 
the environmental investment gap relate to dealing with 
if 
pollution,  which  accounts 
combined  with  water  management.  The  investment  gap 
in circular economy and waste is estimated at EUR 13-28 
billion  a  year,  depending  on 
levels  of  circularity 
implemented.  The  annual  biodiversity  financing  gap  is 
estimated at around EUR 20 billion. 

for  nearly  two-thirds 

1: 

Table 
environmental 
objective (a year)179 

Estimated  breakdown  of 

EU’s 
investment  gaps,  by  environmental 

the 

Estimated investment gap (EU-27, 
p.a.)  

Environmental 
objective 

Pollution  prevention 
& control 

Water  management 
& industries 

Circular  economy  & 
waste 

 EUR billion 

 42.8 

 26.6 

 13.0 

Biodiversity 
ecosystems 180 

R & D & I and other 

Total 

& 

 21.5 

 6.2 

 110.1 

 % 

 39% 

 24% 

 12% 

 20% 

 6% 

 100% 

174  The  Convention  on  Biological  Diversity  (cbd.int);  Post-2020  Global 
Biodiversity Framework | IUCN. 
175  COM(2020)  562  final  Stepping  up  Europe’s  2030  climate  ambition 
Investing  in  a  climate-neutral  future  for  the  benefit  of  our  people: 
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52020DC0562&from=EN 
and 
SWD(2021)621,  accompanying  proposal  COM(2021)557  to  amend  the 
REDII Directive (EU) 2018/2001.  
176  SWD(2020)  98 
Identifying Europe’s recovery needs (europa.eu) 
177  SWD(2018)292  Impact  assessment  accompanying  the  Proposal  for 
(COM(2018)385) 
the 
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta-political/files/budget-
may2018-life-swd_en.pdf 

Identifying  Europe's  recovery  needs: 

Regulation 

final/2 

LIFE 

178  With  decreases  due  to  Brexit  and  some  reconciliation  among  the 
objectives.  Source:  DG  ENV  ’Study  supporting  EU  green  investment 
needs  analysis‘  (ongoing,  2021-2023)  and  DG  ENV  internal  analysis 
’Environmental  investment  needs  and  financing  in  the  EU’s  green 
transition’, July 2020. 
179 Source: as idem 
180  To  meet  the  needs  of  the  2030  Biodiversity  Strategy  (Natura 2000, 
green infrastructure), at least EUR 20 billion a year should be unlocked 
for  nature  (COM/2020/380  final)  while  to  fully  cover  the  strategy 
(including  restoration)  EUR  30-35  billion  may  be  needed,  indicating  a 
gap  of  EUR  10-20  billion  a  year  compared  with  current  baseline 
expenditure. 

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Environmental investment needs in Slovakia  

The  Slovak  economy 
is  characterised  by  a  growing 
manufacturing sector, rather low endowments in sub-soil 
assets,  and  a  growing  consumption  of  material 
resources181,  182.  As  a  result,  the  country 
is  highly 
dependent  on  external  markets  for  both  imports  of  raw 
material  and  exports  of  manufactured  goods.  This  is 
coupled  with  rising  amounts  of  waste  generated  and 
increasing  pressure  on  the  environment183.  According  to 
new  Slovak  Environmental  Strategy  2030,significant 
financing  needs  will  be  needed  to  ensure  a  smart  and 
sustainable development184. 

Pollution prevention and control 

The  EU’s  first  Clean  Air  Outlook185  under  the  clean  air 
programme estimated that the total air pollution control 
costs  for  Slovakia  to  reach  by  2030  the  NECD  emission 
reduction  requirements186  amount  to  EUR  699  million  a 
year,  including  EUR  525  million  for  capital  investment 
(assuming  the  achievement  of  the  2030  climate  and 
energy targets).  

The second EU’s Clean Air Outlook187 suggests that, if all 
relevant  legislation  adopted  up  to  2018  (including  all 
legislation  on  air  pollution  and  the  2030  climate  and 
energy targets set in 2018) delivered its full benefits and 
implemented  the  measures 
if  Member  States  also 
announced in their NAPCPs, the EU would largely achieve 
the reductions of air pollutant emissions that correspond 
to  the  obligations  under  the  NEC  Directive  for  2030, 
except  for  15  Member  States  for  ammonia,  including 
Slovakia.  

including 

is  underperforming 

including  food  waste,  that 

181  OECD  identified  three  areas  which  appear  as  instrumental  for 
resource  efficiency  improvement  in  Slovakia:  i)  strengthening  waste 
management, 
ii) 
transforming pollution and resource intensive industries, such as metal 
the 
processing,  mining  and  electricity  production, 
environmentally harmful subsidies and iii) improving productivity in the 
wood and processing sectors. 
182  OECD,  Making  the  Slovak  Republic  a  more  resource  efficient  
economy,  Country  Study  OECD  Environment  Policy  Paper  NO7,  2017. 
OECD, Slovak Republic.  
183  Ministry  of 
the  environment  of 
http://www.minzp.sk/iep/publikacie/ekonomicke-analyzy/making-
slovak-republic-more-resource-efficient-economy.html 
184  Ministry  of 
http://www.minzp.sk/iep/strategicke-materialy/envirostrategia-2030/ 
185 Ministry of the environment of the Sloval Repûblik, Progress towards 
the  achievement  of  the  EU's  air  quality  and  emissions  objectives 
(europa.eu) 
186 Directive (EU) 2016/2284. 
187  COM(2021)  3  final.  International  Institute  for  Applied  Systems 
Analysis (IIASA), Support to the development of the  
Second Clean Air Outlook, 2020 and Annex. 

the  environment  of 

Sloval  Republic, 

Sloval  Republic, 

the 

the 

Slovakia  36 

According  to  the  Commission's  assessment  of  the 
NAPCP188,  the  projected  emission  reductions  for  2020 
and 2030 are likely to be achieved only partly for NH3 and 
PM2.5  and  likely  not  for  NOx  and  non-methane  volatile 
organic compounds 189.  

Member  States  will  have  to  increase  their  efforts  even 
further  to  comply  with  the  more  ambitious  emission 
reduction  obligations  for  2030  under  the  NEC  Directive 
Compared  with  their  2018  emission  levels,  Slovakia  is 
among  those  countries    that  will  need  to  reduce  their 
ammonia emissions by up to 30% or more190. 

Water management 

Significant  investment  needs  still  exist  in  Slovakia  to 
accelerate  compliance  with  the  Water  Framework 
Directive and the Floods Directive. Flooding is a recurrent 
problem but  natural water retention measures  for flood 
prevention  are  often  disregarded.  This  is  despite  their 
than  hard 
being 
infrastructure  for  flood  prevention  and  being  cheaper 
than the costs of flood recovery. Due to climate change, 
natural hazards like droughts and floods are expected to 
become more frequent and extreme.  

sometimes  more  cost-effective 

Slovakia  has  356  agglomerations  above  2,000  p.e.  and 
2047  agglomerations  below  2000  population  equivalent 
(p.e),covering  around  2200  municipalities.  A  number  of 
agglomerations are not yet compliant with the collection 
and  treatment  requirements  of  the  UWWT  Directive  in 
accordance  with  the  deadlines  set  in  the  Treaty  on 
Accession  (expired  in  2015).  The  aim  of  collecting  waste 
water  for  agglomerations  above  2.000  p.e.  is  almost 
achieved but investments are still needed in treatment.  

EU  funding  has  provided  a  significant  share  of  previous 
public  funding  over  the  past  decade.  An  OECD  study 
assessed  Member  State’s  investment  needs  for  drinking 
water  and  sanitation  up  to  2030.  For  Slovakia, 
it 
estimates a cumulative expenditure of EUR 3.3 billion by 
2030  over  baselines,  with  EUR  1.3  billion  included  on 

188  Final  Report  for  the  European  Commission.  Review  of  the  National 
Air Pollution Control Programme – Slovakia.  Review of the National Air 
Pollution Control Programme – Slovakia.   Projected combined impacts 
of Policies and Measures (PaM) on emission reductions, air quality and 
the environment and associated uncertainties. 
189  https://ec.europa.eu/environment/air/reduction/NAPCP.htm  -  The 
Ambient  Air  Quality  Directive  sets  binding  limits  for  a  number  of 
pollutants,  including  sulphur  dioxide  (SO2),  nitrogen  dioxide  (NO2), 
particulate  matter  (PM10).  The  National  Emissions  Ceilings  (NEC) 
Directive  sets  ceilings  for  total  national  emissions  of  four  types  of 
pollutants: sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), volatile organic 
compounds (VOC) and ammonia (NH3). 
190 International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Progress 
towards  the  achievement  of  the  EU's  air  quality  and  emissions 
objectives, 2018. 

 Environmental Implementation Review 2022 – Slovakia 

 
 
                                                 
 
                                                 
capital  investment.  The  country  fact  sheet  for  Slovakia 
suggests  an  annual  investment  need  of  about  EUR  130 
million  in  its  water  industry  (with  around  80%  of  that 
related to wastewater), while the total financing need is 
up to EUR 330 million (including operating costs as well) a 
year.  There  is  a  notable  gap  (13%)  between  urban  and 
rural areas in terms of the percentage of the population 
with  access  to  safely  managed  sanitation191.  Social 
affordability is also an issue. Some 87% of the population 
is  being  connected  to  the  public  water  supply  system 
with a high leakage rate (28%)192. Furthermore, less than 
30%  of  municipalities  of  up  to  2.000  inhabitants  are 
connected  to  a  sewage  network.    Moreover,  the  recent 
6th  Water  Framework  Directive  and  Floods  Directive 
Implementation  Report193  and  the  financial  -  economic 
study194  accompanying  it,  are  also  a  relevant  source  of 
information in this domain. 

Waste & circular economy 

Slovakia’s  existing  economic  model  is  highly  dependent 
on industry. Decoupling economic growth from pressure 
on the environment is a challenge195. Failing to adopt the 
circular systems will only make this challenge bigger and 
widen existing regional disparities. 

Slovakia  has  already  identified  the  most  instrumental 
measures  for  making  the  country  a  more  resource 
  waste 
including 
efficient  economy, 
management,  with  a  focus  on  diverting  waste  from 
landfills and stimulating recycling and reuse196. The Value 
for  Money  Study  in  the  environment  sector  concluded 
that waste reprocessing capacities in Slovakia (built in the 
period 2010-2016) for meeting the 2020 targets, with the 

improving 

191 OECD, Financing a Water Secure Future, 2022. 
financing-water-supply-sanitation-and-flood-protection-country-fact-
sheet-slovak-republic.pdf (oecd.org) 
Preliminary  projection  of  needs  for  water  supply  and  sanitation 
assuming  1)  increased  population  growth,  2)  full  compliance  with  the 
Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive, 3) improvements of the water 
supply  network,  4)  full  compliance  with  the  new  Drinking  Water 
Directive. 
192  Commission  Staff  Working  Document 
Impact  Assessment 
Accompanying  the  document Proposal  for  a Directive  of  the  European 
Parliament  and  of  the  Council  on  the  quality  of  water  intended  for 
human consumption (recast) SWD/2017/0449 final - 2017/0332 (COD) 
193 WFD and FD Implementation Reports – DG Environment – European 
Commission. 
194  European  Commission,  Directorate-General 
for  Environment, 
Economic  data  related  to  the  implementation  of  the  WFD  and  the  FD 
and the financing of measures, Final report. Publications Office, 2021. 
195  Ministry  of 
the  environment  of 
http://www.minzp.sk/iep/publikacie/ekonomicke-analyzy/making-
slovak-republic-more-resource-efficient-economy.html 
196  Ministry  of 
the  environment  of 
http://www.oecd.org/environment/waste/Policy-Paper-Making-the-
Slovak-Republic-a-more-resource-efficient-economy.pdf 

Sloval  Repûblik, 

Sloval  Repûblik, 

the 

the 

Slovakia  37 

exception  of  bio-waste  and  paper,  are  sufficient197. 
However,  further  investments  are  needed.  As  for  the 
revised  EU  waste  targets,  the  Commission's  study 
estimates that investment needs in the waste sector, for 
municipal and packaging waste, reach an additional EUR 
126  million    in  2021-27  (over  baselines)  or  EUR  267 
million 
in  2021-35,  suggesting  an  annual  average 
investment  need  of  around  EUR  18  million  (or  EUR  18 
million  with  biowaste  facility  replacement  costs).  The 
investment 
collection,  biowaste 
treatment, recycling reprocessors, waste sorting facilities 
and waste registry digitalisation198.  

is  necessary 

in 

Biodiversity & ecosystems 

Member  States’  prioritised  action  frameworks  (PAFs), 
adopted  according to Article 8 of the Habitats Directive, 
present  the  conservation  priorities  for  the  Natura  2000 
network  and  its  supporting  green  infrastructure,  their 
costs  and  planned  funding  sources  for  the  period 
corresponding  to  the  current  multiannual  financial 
framework  (MFF  2021-2027).  According  to  Slovakia’s 
PAF199,  EUR  1.75  billion  would  be  needed  for  nature 
conservation,  including  the  management  of  the  Natura 
2000  network,  in  the  programming  period  2021-2027, 
corresponding to an average of EUR 242 million per year 
(including  EUR  43  million  annual  one-off  costs).  This 
excludes  additional  costs  to  implement  the  Biodiversity 
Strategy  to  2030,  including  on  increased  protection  and 
restoration. The broader financing plan for biodiversity at 
the  national 
identify  additional 
financial  gaps  for  other  Biodiversity  Strategy  priorities 
(beyond  Natura  2000  and  PAF),  but  this  is  missing  for 
now. 

level  could  help  to 

Reform of the institutional framework in view of merging 
forest  protection  and  management  is  on-going.  Further 
steps  are  needed  in  the  forestry  sector,  including  to 
review government support to wood production and use, 
and to disincentivise harmful practices200.  

for 

2017: 

Policy, 

Institute 

Slovakia, 

Environmental 

197 
http://www.minzp.sk/iep/publikacie/revizia-vydavkov/   
198  European  Commision,  Study  on  investment  needs  in  the  waste 
sector and on the financing of municipal waste management in Member 
States, 2019. 
199 https://www.minzp.sk/files/sekcia-
ochranyprirodyakrajiny/paf2020/paf_sk_2021-
2027_aktualizacia_schvalena-maj_2021_na-web_21-6-2021.pdf 
200  OECD,  Making  the  Slovak  Republic    a  more  resource  efficient  
economy,  Country  Study  OECD  Environment  Policy  Paper  NO7,  2017. 
OECD, Slovak Republic. 

 Environmental Implementation Review 2022 – Slovakia 

 
 
                                                 
 
 
                                                 
EU environmental funding 2014-2020 

Table 2:  Direct  and indirect environmental investments 
under the ESI Funds in Slovakia, 2014-2020205 

Slovakia  38 

The MFF for 2014-2020 allocated almost EUR 960 billion 
(in  commitments,  2011  prices)201  for  the  EU.  The 
commitment  to  green  transition  included  a  20%  climate 
spending  target  and  funding  opportunities  for  the 
environment, 
the  European 
in  particular,  under 
Structural  and  Investment  (ESI)  Funds202.  The  2014-2020 
budget  was  subsequently  topped  up  with  over  EUR  50 
billion  (current  prices)  from  REACT-EU  for  policy  action 
against the coronavirus (COVID-19)203.  

Slovakia received EUR 16.5 billion from the ESI Funds for  
2014-2020 to invest in job creation and a sustainable and 
healthy  European  economy  and  environment.  The 
planned  direct  environmental  investment  amounted  to 
EUR 2.2 billion with a further EUR 1.1 billion identified as 
indirect  environmental  investment  value,  totalling  to 
over  EUR  3.2  billion.  Figure  37  shows  an  overview  of 
(planned) individual ESI Funds earmarked for Slovakia (EU 
amounts, without national amounts). 

Figure 37: ESI Funds allocated to Slovakia, including 
environmental investments, 2014-2020204

Instrument 

Under Cohesion policy (ERDF + CF) 
Direct environmental investments 
water 
waste 
air quality 
biodiversity and nature 
land rehabilitation 
climate and risk management 
Indirect environmental investments 
renewable energy 
energy efficiency 
other energy206 
sustainable transport 
business development, R&I 

Under EAFRD/rural development 
Direct environmental investments 
climate and risk management 
Indirect environmental investments 
renewable energy 

Under EMFF 
Direct environmental investments 
environment  protection  &  resource 
efficiency 

Under ESI Funds total  
Direct environmental investments 
Indirect environmental investments 

Allocations  
for the environment  
(EUR million) 

3 188.6 
2 135.6 
698.0 
419.8 
157.9 
165.8 
224.9 
469.3 
1 053.0 
46.5 
305.1 
54.3 
612.4 
34.6 

28.7 
23.6 
23.6 
5.2 
5.2 

1.7 
1.7 
1.7 

3 219.1 
2 161.0 
1 058.1 

It is not yet possible to fully  report on the programming 
period  2014-2020.  Nevertheless,  current  data  suggests 
in 
that  ESI  funds 

is  not  on  track 

implementation 

201 Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1311/2013. 
202  The  European  Structural  and  Investment  (ESI)  Funds  include  the 
European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Cohesion Fund (CF), 
the  European  Social  Fund  (ESF)  with  the  Youth  Employment  Initiative 
(YEI),  the  European  Agricultural  Fund  for  Rural  Development  (EAFRD) 
and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF).   
203 Regulation (EU) 2020/2221. 
204  European  Commission,  DG  Environment  -  Data  analysis,  DG 
Environment  analysis  based  on  ESI Funds Open  Data  Portal 
(cohesiondata.ec.europa.eu), Integration  of  environmental  concerns  in 
Cohesion  Policy  Funds  (COWI,  2017), Regulation  (EU)  No  1303/2013, 
Regulation  (EU)  2021/1060 and Implementing  Regulation  (EU)  No 
215/2014. Cut-off  date  for  data:  December  2021.  Environmental 

and 

(EU) 

coefficients 

the Regulation 

investments  here  are  captured  via  the  combined  use of  intervention 
fields 
No 
under 
1303/2013 and Regulation (EU) 2021/1060  allowing for a more precise 
identification  and  valuation  of  relevant environmental investments. 
N.B.  Indirect  environmental  investments  are  valued  using  the  Annex  I 
(EU)  2021/1060 (as 
environmental  coefficients  of  the Regulation 
opposed to full value).    
205 European Commission, DG Environment - Data analysis. The values 
the  specific 
of  environmental 
environmental  areas  may  differ 
values 
at cohesiondata.ec.europa.eu, e.g. for clean  air or biodiversity due  to 
two factors: the set of environmental coefficients used and the range of 
funds assessed. DG Environment’s analysis here  covered the full range 
of ESI Funds. See also previous footnote.  
206  Intelligent  energy  distribution  systems  (smart  grids)  and  high 
efficiency co-generation and district heating, based on intervention field 
53  and  54  respectively  (with  40%  environmental  coefficients)  of 
REGULATION (EU) 2021/1060, Annex I. 

identified  here 
the 
from 

in 
tracking 

investments 

 Environmental Implementation Review 2022 – Slovakia 

 
 
 
                                                 
 
  
 
                                                                                                        
 
Slovakia207.  This  applies  also  to  environment  protection 
and  resource  spending  and  climate  change  adaptation 
and risk prevention spending. 

Funding for the environment from the ESI Funds has also 
been  supplemented  by  other  EU  funding  programmes 
available  to  all  Member  States,  such  as,  the  LIFE 
programme or Horizon 2020., This leads add to a total of 
EUR 3.3 billion in EU environmental financing for Slovakia 
in 2014-2020.  

is  entirely  dedicated 

The  LIFE  programme208 
to 
environmental  and  climate  objectives. 
finances 
demonstration  and  best  practice  actions  for  green 
solutions  to  be  deployed.  In  the  2014-2020  period, 
Slovakia  received  EU  support  for  12  LIFE  projects  (for 
nature  and  environment)  with  EUR  47  million  from  the 
LIFE programme (out of 1 028 EU-27 LIFE projects with a 
total EU contribution of EUR 1.74 billion)209.  

It 

In  2014-2020,  Horizon  2020  allocated  about  EUR    4.7 
million  for  Slovakia  (in  particular,  for  climate  action, 
circular  economy  and  biodiversity)  which  is  about  3.4  % 
of Slovakia’s total allocation210. Under the European Fund 
for Strategic Investments  (EFSI), Slovakia did not  receive 
any environmental funding out of its total allocation (EUR 
485.2  million)211.  From  the  European  Investment  Bank 
(EIB),  again  Slovakia  did  not  receive  any  environmental 
support  out  of  the  total  EIB  loans  for  Slovakia  (EUR  4.1 
billion)212.  The  country  ranks  number  18  in  size  of  total 
EIB lending. 

In 2020, the EIB provided EUR 24.2 billion to fight climate 
change at EU level, 37% of its total financing and EUR 1.8 
billion (3% of its financing) for the environment213, 214. 

Slovakia  39 

EU environmental funding 2021-2027 

The 2020 European Green Deal  investment  plan calls on 
EUR  1  trillion  green  investments  (public  and  private)  by 
2030.  MFF  2021-2027  and  the  NextGenerationEU  will 
mobilise EUR 2.018 trillion  (in current  prices) to  support 
the COVID-19 recovery and the EU's long-term priorities, 
including  environmental  protection215.  Following  the 
European  Green  Deal’s216  ‘do  no  harm’  pledge  and  the 
Interinstitutional  Agreement  on  the  2021-2027  MFF217, 
30%  of  the  EU  budget  will  support  climate  efforts  and 
7.5%  (as  of  2024)  and  10%  (as  of  2026)  will  support  
biodiversity.  This  requires  increased  programming  of 
financial resources for biodiversity, specifically under the 
2021-2027  cohesion  policy  and  the  2023-2027  Common 
Agricultural Policy (CAP) to reach those targets.  

Sustainable  finance  significantly  increases  transparency 
on environmental sustainability (a goal promoted  by the 
EU Taxonomy)218 and strengthens non-financial reporting 
requirements, facilitates green bond issuance (by the EU 
green  bond  standard219).  Reinforced  by  the  Renewed 
Sustainable  Finance  Strategy  (2020)220  it  will  increase 
investment flows to climate and environment. In support 
of  financing  climate  adaptation,  the  new  strategy  on 
adaptation to climate change221 can facilitate closing the 
insurance  protection  gap  from  non-insured  climate-
related  events222.  The  EIB  will  align  50%  of  its  lending 
with  climate  and  environment  by  2025223  with  an  EUR 
250  billion  contribution  to  the  EGD  Investment  Plan  by 
2027. 

Table  3  gives  an  overview  of  the  EU  funds  earmarked 
specifically  to  Slovakia  for  the  2021-2027  period.  These 
funds  are  also  supplemented  by  other  EU  funding 
programmes available to all Member States. 

207  Open  Data  Portal  for  the  European  Structural  Investment  Funds  - 
European  Commission  |  Data  |  European  Structural  and  Investment 
Funds (europa.eu) March 2022: 101% allocated and 53% spent overally 
208 European Commission, LIFE Programme. 
209 Source: CINEA. 
210 Source: EASME, https://sc5.easme-web.eu/, accessed: 15-12-2021. 
211  Approved  and  signed  EFSI  financing  -  EIB,  2015-2020:  Source: 
https://www.eib.org/en/products/mandates-
partnerships/efsi/index.htm. 
212 EIB loans in EU countries in 2014-2020. Source: EIB Open Data Portal: 
https://www.eib.org/en/infocentre/eib-open-data.htm 
213  The  EIB  Group  jointly  works  with  the  European  Commission  in 
implementing 
environmental 
implementation:  InvestEU,  the  successor  of  EFSI,  Pillar  II  and III  of  the 
Just Transition Mechanism. The EIB Group stands as a key implementing 
partner for InvestEU with responsibility for managing 75% of the overall 
budgetary capacity of the mandate. 
214 EIB 2021 Activity Report. 

several  programs 

finance 

that 

long-term  EU  budget  & 

215  European  Commission,  2021-2027 
NextGenerationEU. 
216 COM/2019/640 final. 
217 Interinstitutional Agreement, OJ L 433I. 
218 

https://ec.europa.eu/info/business-economy-euro/banking-and-

finance/sustainable-finance/eu-taxonomy-sustainable-activities_en   
219 EU Green Bond Standard - 2021/0191 (COD). 
220 COM (2021) 390 Final - European Commission, Strategy for Financing 
the Transition to a Sustainable Economy.  
221 COM/2021/82 final. 
222  The  strategy  would  support  improved  insurance  gap  coverage 
including through the natural catastrophe markets as reflected with the 
EIOPA  (the  Association  for  European  Insurance  and  Occupational 
Pension Authorities) dashboard on insurance protection gap for natural 
catastrophes. See: The pilot dashboard on insurance protection gap for 
natural catastrophes | Eiopa (europa.eu). 
223 EIB Climate Bank Roadmap 2021-2025, November 2020 

 Environmental Implementation Review 2022 – Slovakia 

 
 
                                                 
 
                                                 
Table 3: Key EU funds allocated to Slovakia (current 
prices), 2021-2027 

Instrument 

Country funding allocation (million 
EUR) 

Cohesion policy 

Total: 12 358.1224 

ERDF 

CF 

ESF+ 

ETC (ERDF) 

Just Transition Fund 

EAFRD/rural 
development  

under 
Plans 2023-2027228 

CAP 

Strategic 

European 
Fisheries 
Aquaculture 
(EMFAF) 

Maritime, 
and 
Fund 

Recovery  and  Resilience 
Facility (RRF)  

2021 – 2026231  

8 117.4  

1 613.0 225 

2 404.4 

223.3226 

458.9227 

1 295.4229 

15.2230 

6 328.6232 (grants) 

In Slovakia, the programming for the majority of EU funds 
(cohesion  policy  funds,  EAFRD  and  EMFAF)  is  ongoing.  
However,  the  negotiations  have  been  concluded  under 
the RRF. 

Slovakia’s  national  recovery  and  resilience  plan  (RRP) 
responds  to  the  urgent  need  of  fostering  a  strong 
recovery  and  making  it  future  ready.  The  reforms  and 
investments  in  the  plan  will  help  Slovakia  become  more 
sustainable, 
the 
challenges  and  opportunities  of  the  green  and  digital 
transitions.  To  this  end,  the  plan  consists  of five  key 
policy  areas  (the  green  economy,  education,  research 
and  innovation,  health,  and  public  administration  & 

resilient  and better  prepared 

for 

224  European  Commission,  2021-2027  Cohesion  policy  EU  budget 
allocations. 
225  The  transfer  to  the  Connecting  Europe  Facility  (Transport)  is  not 
included. 
226  Interreg  initial  allocations  per  MS  including  ETC  transnational  and 
ETC cross-border co-operation.  
227  European  Commission,  2021-2027  Cohesion  policy  EU  budget 
allocations. 
228 European Commission, CAP strategic plans. 
229 Regulation (EU) 2021/2115, Annex XI.  
230 Regulation (EU) 2021/1139, Annex V. 
231  The  actual  reforms  and  investments  under  the  RRF  have  to  be 
implemented until 31 December 2026.   
232 Council Implementing Decision, FIN 517. 

Slovakia  40 

digitalization)  with  18  components.  They  will  be 
supported by EUR 6.3 billion in grants.  Some  45% of the 
plan  will  support climate  objectives  (see  Figure  38).  This 
exceeds the RRF’s 37% climate target. In terms of green 
transition, the plan reflects its climate pledge. In absolute 
terms,  the  highest  contributions  towards  this  target 
come  from  measures  targeting  building  renovations, 
railway  modernisation  and 
industry  decarbonisation. 
Investments in renewable energy capacity combined with 
a  set  of  reforms  aimed  notably  at  facilitating  the  access 
to  the  grid  of  clean  energy  sources  are  set  to  help 
Slovakia  to  achieve  its  2030  renewables  target.  A  wide 
programme of building renovations, including for coal, oil 
boilers  or  out-of-date  gas  boilers  exchange  and 
management  of  construction  waste,  will  reduce    their 
impact  on  GHG  emissions  and 
improve  air  quality.  
A distinct set of measures is designed to support industry 
decarbonisation.  In  transport,  a  comprehensive  package 
of  reforms  and  investments  will  target  electro-mobility, 
inter-modality  and  public  modes  of  transportation.  The 
plan  also  includes  reforms  and  investments  aimed  at 
sustainable landscape, forest and water management233.  
The  plan  is  to  be  implemented  under  several  conditions  
to  ensure  that  the  ‘do  no  significant  harm’  (DNSH) 
principle  is  applied.  For  example,  no  investments  to 
biomass  boilers  and  construction  of  new  small  hydro-
power  stations  are  eligible  while  the  modernisation  of 
existing  hydro-power  stations  is  linked  with  detailed 
the  environmental 
checking  of  compliance  with 
legislation234.  

In  terms  of  allocation  per  policy  objectives  (PO)  for 
programming  period  2021-2027,  Slovakia  indicates  in  its 
draft  Partnership  Agreement235  that  PO2  ‘a greener, 
low-carbon  transitioning  towards  a  net  zero  carbon 
economy’  has  the  highest  allocation  (EUR  3.9  billion), 
followed  by  PO  4  ‘a  more social and  inclusive  Europe’ 
(EUR  2.8  billion)  and  PO  3  ‘a  more connected Europe  by 
enhancing mobility’ (EUR 2.2 billion). The draft covers all 
relevant environmental sectors mainly under PO 2, which 
includes  3  policy  priorities:  2P1  Energy  efficiency  and 
decarbonisation;  2P2  Environment  and  2P3  Sustainable 
urban  mobility.    The  indicators  on  climate  tagging  and 
biodiversity  tracking  are  not  yet  available.  The  draft 
might be subject to further revision and a question on a 
balanced support of EGD objectives remains open. 

Slovakia  must  also  satisfy  the  enabling  conditions  on 
satisfactory  waste  management  plans  in  order  to  fund 
investments  in  the  waste  management  and  the  circular 

233  Slovakia’s  recovery  and  resilience  plan  |  European  Commission 
(europa.eu) 
234  Commission Staff  Working  Document:  Analysis  of  the  recovery  and 
resilience plan of Slovakia | European Commission (europa.eu) 
235 Domov | Partnerská dohoda (gov.sk) 

 Environmental Implementation Review 2022 – Slovakia 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
                                                 
Slovakia  41 

economy,  on  updated  planning  for  investments  needed 
in  water  and  wastewater  sectors,  and  on  prioritised 
action  frameworks  for 
in  nature  and 
biodiversity.  

investments 

environmental  protection  (Horizon  Europe)242,  clean 
transport  and  energy 
(the  CEF)243  or  sustainable 
infrastructure (InvestEU)244. 

Figure 38: Climate expenditure in RRPs, 2021-2026236 

National environmental protection 
expenditure 

Total  national  environmental  protection  expenditure 
(including all relevant current and capital expenditure)245 
in the EU-27 was EUR 272.6 billion in 2020, representing 
2%  of  the  common  GDP  being  quite  stable  over  time.  
While  absolute  expenditure  is  concentrated  in  a  few 
countries,  as  a  share  of  GDP,    most  countries  spend 
between 1-2%, including Slovakia with 1.7%.   

Of  the  above  total,  the  EU-27's  capital  expenditure    on 
environmental protection (i.e. investment)  amounted to 
EUR  56.3  billion  in  2018,  lowering  to  EUR  54.5  billion  in 
2020,  representing  around  0.4%  of  GDP.  Most  Member 
States  invested  0.2-0.5%  of  their  GDP  in  environmental 
protection,  Slovakia  dedicated  0.4%  of  its  GDP.  During 
2014-2020,  this  totalled  to  around  EUR  376  billion  of 
environmental  investment  in  the  EU-27,  and  to  EUR  2.7 
billion for Slovakia. 

level, 

including  final  consumption, 

242 European Commission, Horizon Europe. 
243 European Commission, Connecting Europe Facility. 
244 European Union, InvestEU. 
245  At  economy 
intermediate 
consumption and  capital  expenditure  of  households,  corporations  and 
governments related to environmental protection goods and services. It 
excludes  EU  funds,  while  may  include  some  international  expenditure 
beyond  domestic.  Data  source:  Environmental  Protection  Expenditure 
Accounts  (EPEA),  Eurostat.  EPEA  accounts  are  based  on  the  on  the 
CEPA  2000  classification,  excluding  climate,  energy  and  circular 
economy. 

Under  NextGenerationEU,  the  Commission  will  issue  up 
to  EUR  250  billion  of  EU  green  bonds  (one  third  of  the 
NGEU total) until 2026 that will comply with the general 
spirit of the DNSH principle, but will not be subject to the 
currently  developed  Delegated  Acts  related  to  the  EU 
Taxonomy  and  will  not  fully  align  with  the  proposed  EU 
Green Bond Standard. 

In  addition  to  EU  funds  earmarked  specifically  for 
Slovakia in the 2021-2027 period, there are also funding 
programmes  open  to  all  Member  States.  These  include,  
the  LIFE  programme237  (EUR  5.4  billion),  Horizon  Europe 
(EUR 95.5 billion)238, the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) 
239 (EUR 33.7 billion)240 or the funds to be mobilised under 
InvestEU241.  They  will  also  support  the  green 
the 
transition, including research and innovation activities for 

236 European Commission. The contributions to climate objectives have 
been calculated using Annex VI of the RRF Regulation (EU) 2021/241. 
237 European Commission, LIFE Programme. 
238  European  Commission,  Multiannual  financial  framework  2021-2027 
(in commitments) - Current prices. 
239  The  CEF  (Transport)  includes also  EUR  11.3  billion transferred from 
the  Cohesion  Fund.  30  %  of  the  transferred  amount  will  be  made 
available,  on a competitive  basis,  to  all  Member  States eligible  for  the 
Cohesion Fund. The remaining 70% will respect the national envelopes 
until  31  December  2023.  Any  unspent  amount,  by  that  date,  under 
national envelopes will support all Cohesion Fund’s Member States. 
240 Regulation (EU) 2021/1153. 
241  The  InvestEU  Fund  is  set  to  mobilise  over  EUR  372  billion  of 
investment through an EU budget guarantee of EUR 26.2 billion to back 
the  investment  of  financial  partners  such  as  the  European  Investment 
Bank (EIB) Group and others. 

 Environmental Implementation Review 2022 – Slovakia 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
 
 
                                                 
Figure 39: Direct and indirect  environmental protection 
investments  in  the  EU-27  (EUR  million  and  %  of  GDP), 
2018246 

Figure  40:  EU-27  Member  States'  environmental 
protection  investments  (Capex)  by  institutional  sectors 
(Total economy = 100%), 2018247 

Slovakia  42 

protection 

investments 

from  specialist  producers 

institutional  sector,  around  52%  of  Slovakia’s 
By 
environmental 
(capital 
expenditure)  came  from  general  government,  a  further 
41% 
(of  environmental 
protection services, e.g. waste and water companies) and 
6%  from  the  classical  industry  (or  business)  sector  that 
normally  pursues  environmental  activities  as  ancillary  to 
their  main  activities.  At  EU  level,  37%  comes  from 
governments,  33%  from  specialist  producers  and  30% 
from industry (business). 

246 Eurostat, Environmental Protection Expenditure Account, 2021.  

Breakdown  of  investment  by  environmental  topic  is 
partially available, at the level of institutional sectors only 
(rather than at economy level), due to different reporting 
patterns. At Slovakia’s general government level in 2018, 
35%  of  environmental  protection  investments  went  to 
waste  management,  32%  to  wastewater  and  11%  to 
tackle  various  pollution.  For  the  country’s  specialist 
producers, around half of the relevant investments were 
received  by  wastewater  (54%),  over  a  third  by  waste 
(35%)  and  11%  by  water  and  soil 
management 
protection.  As  regards  industry  and  businesses,  35%  of 
environmental investments went to protection of air and 
21% to wastewater to name the most significant items. 

The  total  annual  European  green  bond  issuance248  in 
2020  was  USD  156  billion  (EUR  137  billion)249,  growing 
from  USD  117  billion  (EUR  105  billion)  in  2019,  also 
including  some  non-EU  European  countries.  For  EU27 
Member  States  only,  the  2020  annual  green  bond 
issuance was EUR 124 billion. As part of this, Slovakia did 
not issue green bonds. 83% of the green bonds issued by 
European countries served energy, buildings or transport 
objectives between 2014-2020, 8% supported water and 

247  Eurostat,  Environmental  Protection  Expenditure  Accounts 
(env_epe).  
248  Green  bonds  were  created  to  fund  projects  that  have  positive 
environmental  and/or  climate  benefits.  The  majority  of  green  bonds 
issued are green “use of proceeds” or asset-linked bonds. The very first 
green  bond  was  issued  in  2007  with  the  AAA-rated  issuance  from 
multilateral  institutions,  the  European  Investment  Bank  (EIB)  and  the 
World Bank. 
249 At Eurostat’s annual average EUR/USD exchange rates. 

 Environmental Implementation Review 2022 – Slovakia 

 
 
 
                                                 
 
 
 
                                                 
Slovakia  43 

Figure 42: Environmental taxes in the EU27, 2020253 

waste, with further 6% supporting land use – with links to 
ecosystem  conservation  &  restoration,  based  on  the 
Climate Bonds Taxonomy being broadly similar to the EU 
Taxonomy250. 

Figure 41: Annual EU green bond issuance in 2020 (EUR 
billion)251 

Green budget tools 

Green taxation and tax reform 

Slovakia’s revenue from environmentally relevant taxes is 
at the average level in the EU. Environmental taxes stood 
at  2.38%  of  GDP  in  2020  (EU-27  average:  2.24%).  The 
largest portion of the environmental taxes was for energy 
taxes, at 2.13% of GDP, against an EU average of 1.74%. 

Transport  taxes  represented  0.22%  of  GDP  (EU  average  
0.42%). Taxes on pollution and resources stand at 0.03% 
(EU average 0.08%). In the same year, environmental tax 
came  to  6.81%  of  total  revenues  from  taxes  and  social 
security  contributions 
the  EU  average  of 
(above 
5.57%)252. 

on 

Interactive  Data  Platform  at  www.climatebonds.net.  Further 
Taxonomy: 

250 
information 
Bonds 
https://www.climatebonds.net/standard/taxonomy  
251 Climate Bonds Initiative, 2022. 
252 
https://ec.europa.eu/environment/system/files/2021-10/Slovakia.pdf 

(europa.eu): 

polluters 

Ensuring 

Climate 

that 

pay 

The  2019  European  Green  Deal  underlines  that  well-
designed  tax  reforms  can  boost  economic  growth  and 
resilience, and foster a fairer society and a just transition, 
by  sending  the  right  price  signals  and  incentives  to 
economic  actors.  EGD  creates  the  context  for  broad-
based  tax  reforms,  removal  of  fossil  fuel  subsidies, 
shifting  the  tax  burden  from  labour  to  pollution,  and 
accounting  for  social  considerations.  The  application  of 
the  ‘polluter  pays  principle’  (PPP)254,    stipulating  that 
polluters  should  bear  the  cost  of  measures  to  prevent, 
control  and  remedy  pollution,  is  facilitated  by  the  EU 
Commission’s  flagship technical support instrument (TSI) 
on greening taxes255.  

Recent  assessment  of  economic  instruments  in  Slovakia 
shows that there is scope for their enhanced use to make 
polluters pay in several sectors, for example a tax on solid 
fuel,  or  a  pay-as-you-throw  scheme  combined  with  an 
increase in the landfill tax256. 

253 Eurostat, Environmental taxes accounts (env_eta).  
254  Article  191(2)  of  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European 
Union:  “Union  policy  on  the  environment  (…)  shall  be  based  on  the 
precautionary  principle  and  on  the  principles  that  preventive  action 
should  be  taken,  that  environmental  damage  should  as  a  priority  be 
rectified at source and that the polluter should pay”. 
255  European  Commission,  Greening  taxes-  applying  polluter  pays 
principle in practice,  green budgeting TSI participation. 
256 Factsheet_Polluters_pay_Slovakia_V1.pdf (europa.eu) 

 Environmental Implementation Review 2022 – Slovakia 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
 
 
 
                                                 
Environmentally-harmful subsidies 

Figure 43: Trends in natural gas and coal subsidies in 
Slovakia260 

Slovakia  44 

Addressing  and 
removing  environmentally-harmful 
subsidies  (EHS)  is  a  further  step  towards  wider  fiscal 
reforms257.  

incentives 

Fossil  fuel  subsidies  are  costly  for  public  budgets  and 
adversely impact the achievement of  EGD  objectives. In 
for 
many  cases,  they  also  go  against 
investments in green technologies, and do not contribute 
to  levelling  the  playing  field.  Fossil  fuel  subsidies  have 
varied around EUR 55 billion in the EU  since 2015.  They 
rose  by  4%  between  2015  and  2019;  however  some 
countries,  such  as  Latvia,  Lithuania  Sweden,  Greece  or 
Ireland, managed to decrease subsidies for fossil fuels. In 
the EU, subsidies on petroleum products, in sectors such 
as  transport  and  agriculture,  kept  on  growing  over  this 
period, whereas subsidies on coal and lignite decreased, 
largely  owing  to  a  diminishing  role  of  solid  fuels  in 
electricity generation.  

As a share of GDP, fossil fuel subsidies ranged from 1.2% 
in  Hungary  to  less  than  0.1%  in  Malta  in  2019  (the  EU 
being 0.4% on average). In 2019, for Slovakia, total fossil 
fuel subsidies amounted to EUR 0.4 billion, representing 
0.44% of GDP. In 2020, the EU-27’s total amount of fossil 
fuel subsidies decreased to EUR 52 billion (due to falling 
consumption 
the  COVID-19-related 
amid 
restrictions)  which,  without  Member  State  actions,  are 
likely  to  rebound  as  economic  activity  picks  up  from 
2020258. 

trends 

As  reported  in  the  2019  EIR,  Slovakia  took  first  steps  to 
phase  out  environmentally  harmful  subsidies  of  high-
emissions  electricity  generation  from  lignite,  advancing 
its  commitment  from  2030  to  2023  (although  the 
exploitation of lignite can continue beyond). This reform 
is  also  included  in  the  RRP  and  further  TSI  projects  are 
on-going  to  assist  the  region  of  Upper  Nitra  in  the  
transition  out  of  coal  including  for  example  on  the 
solution  for  the  previously  coal-sourced  district  heating. 
This should be done with an involvement  of stakeholders 
to  ensure  a  balanced  approach  amid  concerns  on 
potentially excessive support to biomass259.  

% GDP 

 2013 

 2014 

 2015 

 2016 

 2017  

 2018  2019 

2020 

Natural 
gas 

0,001 

0,001 

0,001 

0,001 

0,001 

0,001 

0,001 

0,001 

Coal 

0,002 

0,002 

0,002 

0,002 

0,002 

0,002 

0,002 

0,002 

Slovakia  is  among  the  Member  States  which  allocated 
more than the EU average on fossil-fuel subsidies as % of 
GDP and all higher than renewable-energy subsidies261. 

Current green budgeting practices  

Green  budgeting  encompasses  various  climate  and 
environmental  tagging  and  tracking  practices  in  budgets 
and  some  EU  Member  states  already  use  green 
budgeting  elements262.  Green  budgeting  helps  identify 
and  track  green  expenditure  and  green  revenues  to 
increase transparency on the environmental implications 
improving  policy 
of  budgetary  policies, 
coherence  and  supporting  green  policies  (including 
climate end environmental objectives)263.  

thereby 

Guidance  on  EU  climate  proofing  and  sustainability 
proofing  has  also  been  developed,    to  assess  project 
eligibility  and  compliance  with  environmental  legislation 

257 European Commission, STUDY ON ASSESSING THE ENVIRONMENTAL 
FISCAL  REFORM  POTENTIAL  FOR  THE  EU28, 
January  2016 
https://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/green_semester/pdf/Eu
nomia%20EFR%20Final%20Report%20MAIN%20REPORT.pdf  
258 COM(2021) 950 and Annex 
259 Udržateľné tepelné riešenie (zivotpouhli.sk) 

260 OECD, Fossil Fuel Subsidies Tracker. 
261  European  Court  of  Auditors,  Energy  taxation,  carbon  pricing  and 
energy subsidies, 2022. 
262 European Commission, Green Budgeting Practices in the EU: A First 
Review,  2021,  Green  Budgeting  in  the  EU  Key  insights  from  the  2021 
Commission  survey  and  and  OECD,  Public  Governance  Directorate, 
Climate  Change  and  Long-term  Fiscal  Sustainability,  Working  Paper, 
February  2021.  Climate  Change  and  Long-term  Fiscal  Sustainability 
(oecd.org) 
263 OECD Paris Collaborative on Green Budgeting initiative, 2017. 

 Environmental Implementation Review 2022 – Slovakia 

 
                                                 
 
 
                                                 
Slovakia  45 

and  criteria264.  The  Commission  established  a  green 
budgeting reference framework265 and  in 2021  launched 
a  technical  support  project  (TSI)  on  green  budgeting  to 
assist Member States in developing or further developing 
national  green  budgeting  frameworks  to  reap  the 
benefits 
for  the  green 
transition. Slovakia participates in this  project. 

for  policy  coherence  and 

Overall financing compared to the needs 

The EU's overall environmental financing for investments 
is  estimated  to  have  been  0.6-0.7%  of  GDP  in  the  2014-
2020  period,  taking  into  account  major  EU  funds  and 
national  financing.  This  ranged  from    0.3%  (Ireland)  to 
1.91%  (Bulgaria),  linked  to  the  level  of  environmental 
States.  The  overall  EU 
challenges 
environmental 
in  the  2021-2027 
period  are  estimated  in  the    range  0.9-1.5%  of  the 
projected  common  GDP  (2021-2027),  suggesting  an 
additional financing need (gap) of  0.6-0.8% of GDP, over 
the  baseline  environmental  financing  of  the  previous 
period266. 

investment  needs 

in  Member 

Figure 44: Total environmental financing baseline (2014-
2020) and estimated needs (2020-2030) in the EU27 (% 
of GDP)267 

264 European Commission, Technical guidance on sustainability proofing 
for the InvestEU Fund. 
265  European  Commission,  Green  Budgeting  Reference  Framework, 
based  on  the  review  of  the  OECD  Paris  Collaborative  on  Green 
Budgeting initiative, 2017. 
266 Source: DG Environment data analysis. EU financing sources covered: 
ESI  Funds  (ERDF,  CF,  ESF,  YEI,  EAFRD,  EMFF),  Horizon  2020,  LIFE,  EFSI 
(EU amount), EIB loans. National financing: total national environmental 
protection  capital  expenditure  (investments)  -  source:  Eurostat  EPEA 
dataset.  Cut-off  date  for  data:  end  2021.  N.B.  The  total  financing  may 
be  higher,  in particular  through further  indirect  investments,  requiring 
further analysis in the future.   
267 Eurostat, ESI Funds Open Data, 2021. 

Slovakia’s environmental financing for investments came 
to  an  estimated  1.12%  of  GDP  (EU  average  of    0.7%)  in 
2014-2020,  being  balanced  between  EU  funding  and 
national sources. The environmental investment needs in 
the 2021-2027 period are estimated to reach over  1.46% 
of  GDP 
(covering  needs  with  country  breakdown 
available), indicating a financing gap of at least 0.33% of 
GDP  for  environmental  implementation.  This  is  likely  to 
be  higher  when  also  accounting  for  needs  estimated 
currently  at  EU 
level  only  (e.g.  water  protection, 
circularity and biodiversity strategy).  

In  the  2019  EIR,  Slovakia  had  one  priority  action  for 
environmental  financing  to  improve  the  capacity  to  use 
EU  funds  for  the  environment  effectively,  including  to 
prepare  for  the  next  financing  period  2021-2027.  Given 
that  Slovakia  is  facing  implementation  difficulties  in  the 
programming 
this 
recommendationremains  valid.  Moreover,  there  is  room 
for  improvement  in  the  coming  years  and  additional 
priority actions are proposed. 

2014-2020, 

period 

2022 priority actions  

  To  devise  an  environmental  financing  strategy  to 
maximise  opportunities  for  closing  environmental 
implementation  gaps,  bringing  together  all  relevant 
administrative levels. 

  To  ensure  an  increased  level  of  financing  for  the 
environment, 
sources 
(currently  than  a  third),  to  cover  investment  needs 
across  the  environmental  objectives  and  to  close 
investment gaps. 

from  private 

including 

  To  continue  phasing-out  of  environmentally  harmful 

subsidies (EHSs). 

  Enhance  use  of  economic 

instruments  to  make 

polluters pay. 

 Environmental Implementation Review 2022 – Slovakia 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
 
 
 
Slovakia  46 

6. Environmental governance 

Information, public participation and access to 
justice 

Citizens  can  more  effectively  protect  the  environment  if 
they  can  rely  on  the  three  ‘pillars’  of  the  Aarhus 
Convention:  
(i) access to information;  
(ii) public participation in decision making; 
(iii) access to justice in environmental matters.  
It is of crucial importance to public authorities, the public 
and  business  that  environmental  information  is  shared 
efficiently and effectively 268.  
Public participation enables authorities to make decisions 
that take public concerns into account. Access to justice 
is  a  set  of  guarantees  that  allows  citizens  and  NGOs  to 
use  national  courts  to  protect  the  environment269.  It 
includes  the  right  to  bring 
legal  challenges  ("legal 
standing")270.  

Environmental information 

The  INSPIRE  Directive  aims  at  establishing  a  European 
spatial  data 
infrastructure  for  sharing environmental 
spatial  information  between  public  authorities  across 
Europe,  assisting in  policymaking  across  boundaries  and 
facilitating  public  access  to  this  information.  Geographic 
information  is  needed  for  good  governance  at  all  levels 
and  should  be  readily  and  transparently  available. 

Slovakia’s implementation of the INSPIRE Directive could 
be  better.  Its  performance  has  been  reviewed  based  on 
the  country's  2021  country  fiche271.  Data  identification 
and  documentation  have  made  slow  progress  and 
implementation  levels  need  improvement,  specifically 
the  accessibility  of  spatial  data  sets.  More  efforts  are 
needed: 
(i) to make the data more widely accessible; and  

268  The  Aarhus  Convention,  the  Access  to  Environmental  Information 
Directive  (Directive  2003/4/EC)  and  the  INSPIRE  Directive,  (Directive 
2007/2/EC)  together  create  a  legal  foundation  for  the  sharing  of 
environmental  information  between  public  authorities  and  with  the 
public. This EIR focuses on the INSPIRE Directive's implementation.  
269 These guarantees are explained in the Commission Notice on access 
to  justice  in  environmental  matters,  OJL  275,  18.8.2017  and  a  related 
Citizen's Guide.  
270  This  EIR  report  focuses  on  the  means  implemented  by  Member 
States  to  guarantee  rights  of  access  to  justice,  legal  standing  and  to 
overcome  other  major  barriers  to  bringing  cases  on  nature  and  air 
pollution.  
271 https://inspire.ec.europa.eu/INSPIRE-in-your-Country/SK  

to 

prioritise 

environmental 

(ii) 
in 
implementation, especially those identified as high-value 
spatial  datasets 
implementing  environmental 
legislation272. 

datasets 

for 

Table  4:  Country  dashboard  on  the  implementation  of 
the INSPIRE Directive (2016-2020)273  

2016 

2020 

Legend 

Effective  coordination  and  data 
sharing 

Ensure  effective 
coordination  

Data 
sharing 
without obstacle  

■ 

■ 

■

■ 

INSPIRE performance indicators 

i.  Conformity  of 
metadata  

■ 

■ 

ii.  Conformity  of 
spatial 
data 
sets274 

■ 

■ 

iii.  Accessibility  of 
spatial  data  sets 
through  view  and 
download 
services 

iv.  Conformity  of 
network services 

■ 

■ 

■ 

■ 

■  Implementation  of 
this  provision  is  well 
advanced  or  (nearly) 
completed. 
Outstanding 
issues 
are minor and can be 
addressed 
easily. 
Percentage: >89% 

■  Implementation  of 
this  provision  has 
started  and  made 
some  or  substantial 
progress  but  is  still 
not 
to  be 
complete. 
Percentage: 31–89%  

close 

■  Implementation  of 
this 
is 
provision 
significantly 
falling 
behind. 
Serious 
efforts  are  necessary 
close 
to 
implementation  gap. 
Percentage: <31% 

Public participation 

The  Ministry  of  Environment  provides  a  dedicated 
webpage on the EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) 
Environmental  Assessments) 
and 

(Strategic 

SEA 

272 European Commission, List of high value spatial data sets 
273 INSPIRE knowledge base  
274 The deadlines for implementation of the spatial data interoperability 
were  in  2016  still  in  the  future:  23.11.2017  for  Annex  I  data  and 
21.10.2020 for Annex II and III data. It must be also considered that this 
conformity indicator will in many cases never reach 100% conformity as 
a  majority  of  the  countries  provide  as-is  data  sets  in  addition  to  the 
INSPIRE harmonised data sets. 

Environmental Implementation Review 2022 – Slovakia 

 
 
                                                 
 
  
  
 
                                                 
processes275. There is  comprehensive information on the 
applicable 
legislation,  step-by-step  details  of  both 
procedures, guidance documents and contact points, and 
an  information  system  providing  full  documentation  on 
current and past EIA and SEA procedures276. Information 
on how to submit comments by the public, to whom and 
within which  timeline, is available in the document  with 
which 
is  notified.  However, 
individuals would generally need to already have detailed 
information  on  the  permitting  process  of  concern  to 
them in order to locate documentation.  

the  EIA/SEA  project 

is  no 

summary 

information  available  on 
There 
participation  in  EIA  and  SEA  processes,  although  such 
information is available for individual cases.   

Access to justice  

The  basic  principle  is  that  in  administrative  proceedings 
and in judicial procedures, the legal standing is provided 
for anyone (natural or legal persons) directly affected by 
the  case  (e.g.  by  the  proposed  project).  However,  as  a 
result of the adoption of the Aarhus Convention and the 
effect  of  EU  law,  the  interpretation  has  finally  prevailed 
that in cases subject to the Aarhus Convention, NGOs can 
also  challenge  violations  of  substantive  law  (substantive 
legal  provisions)  and  violations  of  the  right  to  a 
favourable environment. 

to 

related 

There  is  no  provision  in  Slovak  legislation  that  explicitly 
gives individuals or NGOs access to justice with regard to 
’concepts,  plans  or  programmes‘ 
the 
environment.  However,  the  Code  of  Administrative 
Judicial Procedure allows the  ’interested public‘ to bring 
an  action  against  a 
’measure  taken  by  a  public 
administration  body‘  and  against  a  ’general  binding 
regulation‘. In order to be challenged in court, ’concepts, 
plans  or  programmes‘  must  either  be  a  measure  of  a 
public administration body or be adopted in the form of a 
’general  binding  regulation  of  a  municipality‘.  There  are 
some difficulties in challenging plans or programmes.  

There  is  a  system  of  regular  supervision  of  regulatory 
legally  binding  acts  but 
is  hardly  accessible  for 
it 
members  of  the  public  and  NGOs.  They  can  only  call 
attention of those bodies or officials who are entitled to 
initiate an extraordinary supervision procedure. 

Slovakia  47 

There  is  some  information  on  access  to  justice,  usually 
only  in  the  official  language  of  the  country,  maintained 
by the government, and it needs to be searched for.  

The  Commission  has  identified  several  non-conformity 
issues  in  the  Slovak  transposition  of  the  amended  EIA 
Directive277. The shortcomings relate mainly to access to 
information,  timeliness  of  the  decisions,  to  possible 
lack  of  effective, 
conflicts  of 
proportionate 
Slovakia 
committed  to  address  these  gaps 
in  the  planned 
amendment to the Slovak EIA Act.  

and  dissuasive  penalties. 

interest  and 

the 

However,  at  the  same  time,  new  grievancies  cannot  be 
excluded  as  a  result  of  the  new  Building  Act  adopted  in 
April  2022,  which  aims 
to  streamline  permitting 
procedures, amid stakeholders’ concerns278.  

Furthermore,  public  participation  has  been  limited  also 
for sectoral assessment, like assessment of exceptions at 
project level under the Water Framework Directive, as a 
result of the amedment to the Water Act in 2021.   

rather  use 

Any  streamlining  of  the  permitting  system  in  Slovakia 
should  not  lower  the  level  of  environmental  protection 
but 
flexibilities  offered  by  EU 
environmental  legislation.  The  Commission  will  carefully 
assess the conformity of adopted legislation with EU law 
and take further action if EU standards are breached.  

the 

In 2019, there was a priority action addressed to Slovakia 
on  access  to  justice,  namely  to  better  inform  the  public 
about their rights on access to justice. It is concluded that 
only limited progress has been made. 

2022 priority actions 

in 

datasets 

environmental 

  Make  spatial  data  more  widely  accessible  and 
the 
prioritise 
implementation  of  the  INSPIRE  Directive,  especially 
those  identified  as  high-value  spatial  datasets  for 
implementing environmental legislation.  
publish 

public 
participation  in  EIA  and  SEA  processes  in  order  to 
monitor  whether  public  engagement  is  increasing  or 
decreasing. 

information  on 

  Collate 

and 

  Better inform the public about their access to justice 
rights, 
judicial  and 
administrative portals and to the Commission eJustice 

in  particular  by  referring  to 

275 Posudzovanie vplyvov na  životné prostredie  - Enviroportál - životné 
prostredie online (enviroportal.sk) 
276 https://www.enviroportal.sk/sk/eia 

277 October infringements package: key decisions (europa.eu) 
278  The  new  construction  legislation  was  adopted  in  Slovak  Parliament 
despite  citizens  concerns:  Pomôžte  nám  zastaviť  nekvalitné  stavebné 
zákony - VIA IURIS 

 Environmental Implementation Review 2022 – Slovakia 

 
 
 
                                                 
 
                                                 
 

fact  sheets  on  access  to  justice  in  environmental 
matters279. 
Improve  access  to  courts  by  the  public  concerned 
when 
it  comes  to  challenging  administrative  or 
regulatory  decisions,  in  particular  under  the  areas  of 
planning related to water, nature and air quality. 
  Complete transposition of the revised Environmental 

Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive  

Compliance assurance  

to  ensure 

Environmental compliance assurance covers all the work 
that 
undertaken  by  public  authorities 
industries,  farmers  and  others  fulfil  their  obligations  to 
protecti water, air and nature, and managing waste280.  
It includes support measures provided by the authorities, 
such as: 
(i) compliance promotion281;  
(ii)  inspections  and  other  checks  that  they  carry  out, 
i.e.ompliance monitoring282;  
(iii)  the  steps  that  they  take  to  stop  breaches,  impose 
sanctions  and  require  damage  to  be  remediated,  i.e. 
enforcement283.  
Citizen  science  and  complaints  enable  authorities  to 
liability284 
better  focus  their  efforts.  Environmental 
ensures that the polluter pays to remedy any damage.  

Compliance promotion and monitoring 

is  focused  on  the 

In Slovakia, information available on the Nature Directive 
and  the  Nitrates  Directive 
legal 
requirements,  and  on  outlining  the  cross-compliance 
requirements under CAP. For example, the National Food 
and  Agricultural  Centre’s285 
‘Soil  Portal’286  provides 
general  information,  and  provides  some  information  to 
farmers  via  a  map  of  service287.  A  Code  of  Good 
Agricultural  Practice  provides  guidance  in  the  area  of 

279  European  e-Justice  Portal  -  Access  to  justice  in  environmental 
matters (europa.eu)   
280  The  concept  is  explained  in  detail  in  the  Communication  on  "EU 
actions  to 
improve  environmental  compliance  and  governance" 
COM(2018)10  and  the  related  Commission  Staff  Working  Document, 
SWD(2018)10.  
281 This EIR focuses on the help given to farmers to comply with nature 
and nitrates legislation.  
282 This EIR focuses on inspections of major industrial installations.  
283  This  EIR  focuses  on  the  availability  of  enforcement  data  and  co-
ordination between authorities to tackle environmental crime. 
284  The  Environmental  Liability  Directive,  2004/35,  creates  the 
framework. 
285 https://www.vupop.sk/    
286 http://www.podnemapy.sk/default.aspx    
287 
https://portal.vupop.sk/portal/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=75d
6cf2d953f42bc9e36050b9e3f7035 

Slovakia  48 

management  measures  and  is  currently  being  updated 
and revised. There does not appear to be material aimed 
at  providing  farmers  and  other  land  managers  with 
practical guidance on how to manage their businesses so 
as  to  help  with  implementation  of  the  Directives.  This 
was already reported in the 2019 EIR.   

Information  on  the  planning  of  inspections  under  the 
Industrial Emissions Directive is not publicly available, nor 
for  the  follow-up  of  sanctions  further  to  inspections. 
Again, this is similar to the situation reported in the 2019 
EIR.  However,  information  on  inspections  carried  out, 
and  their  results,  is  made  available  to  the  public.  The 
information  portal  of  the  Ministry  of  Environment 
provides  a  link  to  ‘The  integrated  Pollution  Prevention 
information  system’288,  with 
and  Control’s  online 
information  on  legal  obligations,  and  a  link  to  the 
inspection  results  registry289,with  documents  going  back 
for  a  number  of  years.  Comprehensive  annual  activity 
reports  are  published  by  the  Slovak  Environmental 
Inspectorate.  

Complaint handling and citizen science 

in 

the 

Since  2020,  the  Ministry  of  Environment  has  opened  its 
Green Line (Zelená Linka) to citizens also as a first contact 
point for reporting on environmental crimes; this is a toll-
free  number  provided  on  the  main  page  of  the 
Ministry290. In the first year of its operation it registered 
field  of 
from  people 
2,500  submissions 
environmental  issues.  Of  these,  460  were  complaints, 
with  the 
largest  category  (148)  concerning  waste 
management  -  mainly  illegal  landfills.  Complaints  are 
forwarded  to  the  relevant  body  -  municipalities,  district 
authorities,  the  state  nature  protection  or  the  Slovak 
Environmental 
Inspectorate.  Twenty-five  complaints 
were  passed  to  the  police  for  possible  environmental 
crime investigations. This phone line system supplements 
the  existing  possibility  of  submitting  complaints  to  the 
Environment  Ministry  by  email. 
the 
Information System  for the Prevention and Remediation 
of  Environmental  Damage  (IS  PaNEŠ)291  provides  the 
possibility for individual citizens to submit information on 
environmental damage.  

In  addition, 

While  the  Environment  Ministry  has  published  data 
about the use of the new Green Line, that data does not 
provide  information  on  the  follow-up  to  complaints  and 

288  https://www.enviroportal.sk/environmentalne-temy/starostlivost-o-
zp/ipkz-integrovana-prevencia-a-kontrola-znecistovania/informacny-
system-ipkz-1  
289 https://www.enviroportal.sk/ipkz/prevadzka?id=249  
290 https://www.minzp.sk/kontakty/    
291 https://enviskody.enviroportal.sk/uvod    

 Environmental Implementation Review 2022 – Slovakia 

 
 
                                                 
                                                 
whether  infringements  were  identified  and  penalties 
imposed; nor  it is combined with data concerning other 
complaints .  

Enforcement  

In Slovakia, environmental crime is covered by a separate 
title  of  the  Criminal  Code  entitled  ’Offenses  of  general 
danger and against the environment’. The website of the 
police forces has a page explaining environmental crime. 
However, national statistics on crime in Slovakia292 do not 
mention  environmental  crime  or  provide  separate  data 
on  it.    The  latest  annual  report  on  the  state  of  the 
environment, from 2020293, provides some summary data 
on  the  most  common  environmental  crimes,  but  not  on 
their prosecution.   

The  Ministry  of  Interior  established  an  inter-ministerial 
expert  coordination  body  for  fighting  crimes  by,  which 
has  a  specific  national  environmental  crime  expert 
working  party294. 
the  Ministry  of 
In  April  2022, 
Environment submitted a a strategic proposal on fighting 
all types of illegal environmental activities. 

Environmental Liability Directive  

for 

Information  System 

The 
the  Prevention  and 
Remediation of Environmental Damage (IS PaNEŠ)295 has 
been  supplemented  since  2019  by  the  addition  of  a 
database  of  potential  cases  under  the  Environmental 
Liability Directive  (ELD) and by the  registry  of confirmed 
cases.  The  website  provides  information  on  reports 
received, and the outcome of each case. Where cases are 
threats  of 
confirmed 
environmental  damage  are  confirmed  (so  far  four)297, 
detailed 
including  on  the  action  taken, 
financial  costs,  and  legal  proceedings,  is  provided,  and 
the legislation on this aspect offers a range of options to 
operators.  

two)296  or 

information 

far  only 

(so 

The 2019 EIR recommended to improve financial security 
for  liabilities  and  ELD  guidance,  and  publish  information 
on  environmental  damage.  Since  2019,  Slovakia  made 
substantial progress on those issues. 

2022 Priority actions 

Slovakia  49 

 

Improve  the  availability  of  practical  information  for 
farmers and other land managers on steps to take to 
improve 
implementation  of  the  Nature  and  the 
Nitrates Directives.  

  Collect  and  make  available  up-to-date  statistics  on 
environmental  crimes,  including  on  action  taken  and 
penalties imposed.   

  Continue  to  develop  a  strategic  approach  to  combat 

environmental crime. 

Effectiveness of environmental 
administrations  

in 

involved 

implementing 

Those 
environmental 
legislation at EU, national, regional and local levels need 
to have the knowledge, tools and capacity to ensure that 
the  legislation  and  the  governance  of  the  enforcement 
process bring about the intended benefits. 

Administrative capacity and quality 

Index298. 

Environmental 

Slovakia ranks 26th out of 180 in the 2020 Environmental 
policy 
Performance 
developments 
in  Slovakia  are  mainly  driven  by  EU 
Directives and Regulations, and the relevant EU rules are 
generally  transposed in time. At present, the number of 
complaints and infringements in the environmental field 
can be considered to be at the EU average. 

Coordination and integration  

As  mentioned  in  the  2017  EIR,  the  transposition  of  the 
revised  EIA  Directive299  provides  an  opportunity  to 
streamline  the  regulatory  framework  on  environmental 
assessments.  Despite  a  delay  in  full  transposition  in 
relation  to  the  deadline  (May  2017),  Slovakia  has 
transposed  the  revised  Directive.  The  outcome  of  the 
conformity check by the Commission services is reported 
above.  

the 

The  Commission  encourages 
streamlining  of 
environmental  assessments  to  reduce  duplication  and 
avoid  overlaps  in  environmental  assessments  applicable 
to  projects.  Moreover,  streamlining  helps  to  reduce 
unnecessary  administrative  burden  and  accelerates 
done  without 
decision-making, 

provided 

is 

it 

292  https://www.minv.sk/?statistika-kriminality-v-slovenskej-republike-
xml    
293 https://www.enviroportal.sk/spravy/detail/11203 
294 https://www.minv.sk/?MEKO 
295 https://enviskody.enviroportal.sk/uvod  
296 https://enviskody.enviroportal.sk/register/skody 
297 https://enviskody.enviroportal.sk/register/hrozby 

298  Environmental  Performance  Index  |  Environmental  Performance 
Index (yale.edu)  
299 Directive 2014/52/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council 
of 16 April 2014 amending Directive 2011/92/EU on the assessment of 
the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment. 

 Environmental Implementation Review 2022 – Slovakia 

 
 
 
                                                 
 
                                                 
Slovakia  50 

the  quality  of 

the  environmental 
compromising 
assessment  procedure300.  Slovakia  has  introduced  the 
streamlining  of  environmental  assessments  under  EIA 
and  Habitats  Directives  already  prior  the  revision  of  the 
EIA  Directive.  Further  streamlining  is  expected  in  the 
context  of  the  reform  of  the  national  Building  Act  that 
Slovakia adopted in April 2022 (please refer to section on 
access to justice). 

Reforms through the Commission’s Technical 
Support Instrument (TSI) 

The Commission supports environmental implementation 
and  the  green  transition,  not  only  through  EU  financing 
programmes,  but  also  by  granting  technical  assistance 
such as the Technical Support Instrument (TSI)301. 

The  TSI  supported  several  environment-related  projects 
in  Slovakia  during  the  reporting  period.  In  2019,  TSI 
supported a project related to drivers and health impacts 
of  air  pollution.  In  2020,  two  projects  were  selected: 
’Roadmap  for  the  transition  to  a  Circular  Economy‘  and 
’Environmental  impacts  and  land  rehabilitation  of  the 
Upper Nitra Coal Region‘. Under the TSI 2022, three new 
projects  are  supported  related  to  the  reform  of  water 
charges  to  address  polluter-  and  user-pay  principles,  to 
the renovation wave, and to climate and macroeconomic 
modelling  tools  supporting  the  strategic  policy-making 
process. 

TAIEX EIR peer to peer projects  

Information  Exchange 
The  Technical  Assistance  and 
(TAIEX)  EIR  Peer-to-Peer  tool302  has  been  launched  in 
2017  by  the  Commission  to  facilitate  peer-to-peer 
learning between environmental authorities. 

During the reporting period, Slovakia participated in four 
multicountry  workshops:  on  the 
inclusion  of  green 
criteria  in  public  procurement  (2020),  on  Sustainable 
Finance  (2020);  on  ammonia  reducing  technology  and 
(2022).
measures 

(2021);  and  on 

zero-pollution 

joint  procedures 

300 The Commission issued a guidance document in 2016 regarding the 
that  are 
setting  up  of  coordinated  and/or 
simultaneously subject to assessments under the EIA Directive, Habitats 
Directive,  Water  Framework  Directive,  and  the  Industrial  Emissions 
Directive, OJ C 273, 27.7.2016, p. 1.  
301 Supporting reforms in Slovakia TSI 2022 (europa.eu) 
302  TAIEX  -  Environmental  Implementation  Review  -  PEER  2  PEER  - 
Environment - European Commission (europa.eu) 

 Environmental Implementation Review 2022 – Slovakia