On Tuesday 17 February, the Cypriot Finance Minister, Mákis Keravnós, pointed out that “€394 billion” had so far been disbursed by the RRF, i.e. “68%” of the envelope allocated to the budgetary instrument of the post-Covid-19 European recovery plan.
Reiterating his call to speed up the implementation of national recovery plans (see EUROPE 13790/9), the European Commissioner for Economy, Valdis Dombrovskis, has indicated that 25 Member States have “streamlined” their plans, reducing by “20%” the total number of outstanding milestones and targets (corresponding to investments and reforms).
Lithuania. The latest country to make a targeted revision to its post-Covid-19 recovery plan is Lithuania, a revision which the EU Council approved on Tuesday.
These amendments do not affect the “initial ambition” of the Lithuanian plan, according to Mr Keravnós, current President of the ‘Ecofin’ Council.
See the EU Council decision and its annex: https://aeur.eu/f/kqz
Member States have until the end of August to complete their recovery plans, and until the end of 2026 to send payment claims to the European Commission. They are authorised to transfer certain European funds to other EU programmes, such as the InvestEU programme.
Hit by deadly floods, Portugal is considering a review of its recovery plan. However, given the deadlines, “the margin is narrow”, Finance Minister Joaquim Mirando Sarmento acknowledged on Monday on his arrival at the Eurogroup. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)