On Tuesday 8 September, the European Commission approved amendments to the Cohesion Programme for Eastern Poland and two Cohesion Programmes in Spain to address the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic in the framework of the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative (CRII and CRII+).
A sum of €147 million is being redirected for Poland, a large part of which is going to SMEs in the five regions of eastern Poland (around 1550 companies). In addition, €34 million will be spent on the production of medicines and therapies, active pharmaceutical ingredients and medical equipment, as well as on the development of new IT tools for construction services for people subject to mandatory quarantine.
Two cohesion programmes in Spain have also been approved for the regions of Extremadura and La Rioja. These amendments earmark almost €57 million (€46.6 million and €10.3 million respectively) to strengthen the health sector in these two regions. In addition, both programmes will benefit from a temporary increase in the EU co-financing rate to 100%. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)