The ministers of the Member States welcomed the European Commission’s assessment of the national recovery plans of Croatia, Cyprus, Lithuania and Slovenia at the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin), which was held by video conference on Monday 26 July, triggering the written procedure for adoption.
“It was a rainy morning in Brussels, but that did not stop us from bringing sunshine and positive news for four Member States”, said EU Council Presidency spokesperson Damijan Fišer (Coreper II).
The formal adoption of the decisions, which will be finalised by Wednesday 28 July at the latest, will allow this second group of countries to use the Recovery and Resilience Plan funds to address the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. EU Council approval would pave the way for the disbursement of 13% pre-financing.
As a result, Croatia will receive €6.3 billion in grants (11.68% of national GDP in 2019), including €820 million in pre-financing. Cyprus will receive €1.23 billion (5.61% of national GDP), of which €1 billion in the form of a grant (€130 million in pre-financing) and €230 million in the form of a loan (with pre-financing of €26 million).
For Lithuania, €2.22 billion in grants (4.59% of national GDP), including €290 million in pre-financing. Finally, Slovenia is expected to receive €2.48 billion (5.17% of national GDP), of which €1.78 billion will be in the form of a grant (with pre-financing of €231 million) and €705 million in the form of a loan.
In its National Resilience and Recovery Plan, Croatia intends to improve its water and waste management system, accelerate the transition to sustainable mobility and support the deployment of digital infrastructure in remote rural areas. Cyprus intends to reform its electricity market and facilitate the deployment of renewable energy as well as strengthen connectivity and e-government services.
For its part, Lithuania also wants to invest in the deployment of renewable and local energy and in the development of the broadband network. Slovenia will support sustainable transport, renewable energy and the digitalisation of its public sector.
These four states join the twelve Member States whose national plans were approved on 12 July. These were Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain (see EUROPE 12761/1).
The Commission has also recently proposed the adoption of the Irish (see EUROPE 12764/15) and Czech (see EUROPE 12765/7) recovery plans, but the timeframe was too short to allow a proper review before the summer break.
The Hungarian and Polish cases
Member States still awaiting approval from the European Commission include Romania, Finland, Sweden and Estonia, as well as Poland and Hungary. Asked by journalists, Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis said that the examination procedure for the Hungarian plan had been extended until 30 September. A similar decision would be considered for Poland, he said. The national plans of Bulgaria and the Netherlands are still missing.
To consult the various national plans:
- Cyprus (decision: https://bit.ly/3x2nPL4 and annex: https://bit.ly/3hVpIVC )
- Croatia (decision: https://bit.ly/3xYzn3k and annex: https://bit.ly/3iya4i9 )
- Lithuania (decision: https://bit.ly/2V8fxE0 and annex: https://bit.ly/3iD7aIO )
- Slovenia (decision: https://bit.ly/2VcUtMO and annex: https://bit.ly/3zmDzKv ) (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)