The European Commission announced on Tuesday 18 May its approval to support Bulgaria, Estonia and Germany with €367.4 million under the REACT-EU initiative to address the consequences of the pandemic.
Bulgaria should receive €173.6 million through an amendment to a European Social Fund operational programme.
The additional financial support is expected to fund short-time work for 50,000 employees, the institution says, and to increase the pay of more than 17,000 people in both the medical and non-medical sectors. Finally, 53,000 people in need, including elderly and disabled people, should receive help at home thanks to this additional support.
For its part, Estonia is expected to receive €173.2 million to continue and strengthen its vaccination campaign and improve its health services. This financial support is also expected to benefit the tourism and construction sectors.
Finally, Germany should receive €20.6 million under an amendment to the European Social Fund operational programme for Rhineland-Palatinate. Here, the financial effort will rather be directed towards skills acquisition as well as support for micro-entrepreneurs and the self-employed.
The approval of the modifications to the operational programmes has been ongoing since the beginning of April (see EUROPE 12696/10). Several Member States, including France, Sweden and Denmark, have already benefited (see EUROPE 12719/13, 12709/32). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)