Spatial Disparities in Drawing the Operational Programme Quality of Environment With the Focus on Flood-Related Projects in Slovakia

Abstract

The primary focus of the Operational Programme Quality of Environment (OP QE) is the support of EU regions in terms of environmental protection, efficient use of natural resources, flood protection and adaptation to climate change, as well as support of a low-carbon economy. The aim of this article is a spatial analysis of the distribution of financial resources from the OP QE (priority axes 2 and 3) in 2017–2022 at different spatial-hierarchical levels (region, district, and municipality) of Slovakia. The results indicated that there were significant differences in the number of submitted as well as approved/declined projects among individual regions, districts, or municipalities. Regarding the district level, several districts did not submit any project during the studied period, despite the existing flood risk. At the municipal level, out of total municipalities that received funding, approximately half were marked as potentially significantly endangered and approximately another half were marked as not endangered by the Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment—PFRA (2018). Based on this, inclusion of municipalities in different flood risk categories defined by the PFRA (2018) is not being taken into account when approving/declining projects and the same applies to the occurrence of previous flood events in municipalities.