(ANSA) - BELGRADE, 29 MAG - The European Union is planning to shift more than 30 billion euro in funding for the cohesion policy from Central- and Eastern Europe to Southern Europe, according to the Financial Times.

The Financial Times said that it has seen "draft documents" that suggest that the European Commission is revising the criteria for allocating funds, with member states from Central- and Eastern Europe risking a significant cut in funding for the 2021-2027 budget period.

The FT wrote that Poland could face a squeeze in funds by 23 per cent, 19.5 billion euro less than in the 2014-2020 period.

Also Hungary, the Czech Republic, Estonia, and Lithuania may face 24 per cent reductions. In total, the countries of the so-called Visegrad group (Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia) together with the Baltic states may face a 37-billion-euro fund reduction.

On the contrary, EU member countries in Southern Europe such as Spain (+5%, 34 billion), Italy (+6.4%, 38.6 billion) and Greece (+8%, 19.2 billion), together with Portugal and Cyprus, could see their fund allocation increasing by 3.7 billion.

According to the Financial Times, the "revised approach reflects the 'evolution of disparities' in Europe since the financial crisis, while maintaining a focus on the most deprived regions and countries.

"The overhaul also ends the practice of distributing cohesion money exclusively on the basis of GDP per head. New indicators to be used include youth unemployment, levels of education, immigration between 2014 and 2017, and carbon emissions," the FT wrote.

The Financial Times noted that "the precise figures are still the subject of a fierce political debate within the commission."(ANSA).