EU final green light for 12-country stimulus plans

The national post-Covid recovery plans of 12 countries, including Germany, Spain, France and Italy, were formally approved on Tuesday by the Council of the EU which represents the 27 member states, leading the way the first payments of European funds.

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This green light confirms an opinion already expressed by the Commission. It marks the concrete launch of the program of 672 billion euros of grants and European loans intended to finance projects of the future, in particular in the digital and climate transition, to strengthen the economy after the pandemic. "

," European Commissioner for the Economy Paolo Gentiloni said Tuesday morning before a meeting of European finance ministers in Brussels.

He specified that the 12 countries concerned would receive "

" a deposit representing 13% of the total sums promised to them, after some administrative formalities such as the signing of financing agreements.

The list of the first beneficiaries also includes Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Latvia, Luxembourg, Poland and Slovakia.

A total of 750 billion euros

These sums are financed by a common recourse to the unprecedented loan which embodies European solidarity in the face of the Covid-19 crisis.

They are part of the “

”

recovery plan

for a total of 750 billion euros.

Spain and Italy should be the main beneficiaries with a total of nearly 70 billion euros in subsidies each by 2026, ahead of France (nearly 40 billion).

In order to obtain the planned financing, the EU countries began to submit national investment plans in Brussels at the end of April, associated with promises of structural reforms.

Only two of the 27 countries - Bulgaria and the Netherlands - have not yet submitted their application.

Among the 25 who submitted their project, 16 have already received a favorable opinion from the Commission.

Plans for other countries are under review, including that of Hungary, which is being examined amid high tensions over LGBT rights in that country.

The Commission has already borrowed 35 billion euros in June on the financial markets which are to be used to finance the down payments.

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The next disbursements, in the months and years to come, will be conditional on compliance with the reform schedule to which the Member States have committed.

They will be scrutinized by the Council of the EU as and when disbursements are planned.