Of the €385.8 billion in loans available under the financial facility of the NextGenerationEU recovery plan, seven EU countries were already benefiting from assistance in the form of loans totalling around €165.4 billion. Following the adoption of their national recovery plans, 10 Member States have requested additional loans, or requested loan support for the first time, for a total of €127.2 billion.
In the end, €93.2 billion in loans - a quarter of the total available - were not applied for by the Member States, concludes the European Commission in a summary note published on Friday 1 September, the day after the deadline for applying for EU loans under the NextGenerationEU plan.
The Member States requesting aid for the first time are: Spain (€84 billion - see EUROPE 13196/32), Croatia (€4.44 billion - see other news), Hungary (€3.9 billion - see other news), Lithuania (€1.7 billion - see EUROPE 13213/21), the Czech Republic (€818.1 million - see EUROPE 13213/21) and Belgium (€264.2 million).
The Member States that have requested additional aid are: Poland (an additional €23.03 billion - see other news), Greece (€5 billion - see EUROPE 13240/17), Portugal (€3.19 billion) and Slovenia (€587 million - see EUROPE 13224/23). Italy has indicated that it would not rule out calling in additional loans depending on the European aid available (see EUROPE 13234/17).
The overall requests made by Greece, Croatia, Italy, Poland and Romania exceed the maximum threshold set (6.8% of national GNI). The Commission will take into account the justification provided by the Member State regarding the existence of exceptional circumstances.
See the Commission’s note: https://aeur.eu/f/8ek (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)