On 20 August 2024, the Cabinet of Ministers approved a draft Regulation elaborated by the Ministry of Smart Administration and Regional Development (MoSARD), which provides for an increase in funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for Measure 4.2.1.7 "Pre-school education institutions infrastructure development" (Measure).
"The additional ERDF funding for the development of pre-school education infrastructure is an important step towards ensuring quality and accessible education for our youngest citizens. This funding will help implement projects that will provide new opportunities for more than 1300 children in different regions of Latvia. This is an important investment in our future and will contribute to the long-term development of our regions and the well-being of our citizens," says Inga Bērziņa, Minister for Smart Administration and Regional Development.
An additional ERDF funding of €23 million (including €3.5 million of flexibility funding to be made available after the European Commission's decision on the performance framework, after 2025) is planned for the measure to support high readiness projects submitted in the open call for project proposals organised by the Central Agency for Finance and Contracts.
The projects submitted for which ERDF funding was insufficient are the development projects of the municipalities of Riga and Jelgava, Valmiera, Olaine, Cesis, Ogre, Ropazai and Sigulda regions, which plan to build new kindergartens or convert existing buildings to create new places for pre-school children. In total, the above projects plan to create more than 1 300 new places in pre-school education institutions.
The Central Financial and Contracts Agency continues the evaluation of projects submitted under the open call for proposals. Project implementation agreements will be concluded after a positive decision of the European Commission on the amendments to the EU Cohesion Policy Programme 2021-2027, which is expected by the end of this year.
