On Wednesday 20 July Member States’ Ambassadors to the European Union approved unchanged the FAST-CARE proposal to further relax EU law governing structural funds in order to rapidly finance assistance for the reception and integration of refugees fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine (see EUROPE 12982/19).
Apart from a pre-financing of €3.5 billion to be paid in 2022 and 2023 for programmes receiving funding from the ERDF, ESF+ and Cohesion Fund, a co-financing rate of up to 100% is introduced for the socio-economic integration of third-country nationals using the remaining resources from the 2014-2020 period.
The legislative proposal, which still needs to be approved by the European Parliament, raises the unit cost of covering basic needs and assistance to people enjoying temporary protection from the moment they arrive in the EU to €100 (currently €40) per week for 26 weeks (currently 13 weeks).
See the legislative proposal: https://aeur.eu/f/2p8 (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)