The European Commission Transfers 10 Billion Euro to Spain

The European Commission confirmed this morning the completion of the transfer corresponding to the 10 billion euro linked to the first 52 milestones of the Recovery Plan, thus making Spain the first country to receive direct funding from the Commission of the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (PRTR).

The disbursement request procedure formally initiated by the General Secretariat of European Funds, dependent on the Ministry of Finance and Public Function, is thus finalised on November 11.

After the favourable assessment of the Commission and the Council, with the payment by the European Central Bank, Spain becomes the first Member State to receive a disbursement linked to meeting the PRTR milestones. Thus, Spain continues to be a pioneer country in everything related to the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism, since it was the first country to approve the Operational Provisions and to present the first disbursement request, proving compliance with the corresponding milestones.

This first tranche of community resources is linked to the fulfilment of 52 milestones of the Plan that fundamentally cover reforms in areas such as sustainable mobility, energy efficiency, decarbonisation, connectivity, modernization of the Public Administration or R&D (research and development). Particularly noteworthy are specific projects such as the 2021-2025 SMEs Digitisation Plan, equal pay between women and men or the Climate Change and Energy Transition Law.

Thus, the significant steps that Spain has already taken in the development of the Recovery Plan and the broad reform agenda that comprise it are confirmed.

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, congratulated Spain through social networks and highlighted that it is the first country to receive the first payment from the Next Generation EU fund. In this sense, the head of the Commission has explained that she hopes that other Member States can soon follow in the footsteps of Spain.

Spain, pioneer in applying the Recovery Plan

The request for the first disbursement of 10 billion euro followed the signing and entry into force last November of the Operational Provisions of the Recovery Plan (OA, in its acronym in English), which establish the technical aspects for monitoring the development of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan bilaterally between Spain and the European Commission.

The Spanish Government was also the first to sign this agreement, which must be signed by the 27 countries of the European Union that are part of the European Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (MRR).

The income of the 10 billion corresponding to the first disbursement will be added to the 9 billion euro that Spain received last August as pre-financing, a figure equivalent to 13% of the 69 billion euro that the country will receive in the form of grants from the MRR . In total, there are more than 19 billion transfers from the European Commission to Spain this year linked to the Recovery Plan.

Cruising speed in 2022

In relation to the management of the Recovery Plan, as of December 20, the Government had already authorised more than 80% of the total funds of the Recovery Plan of the PGE 2021, the equivalent of more than 20 billion euro, of which 78% have already been committed.

These data, together with the authorisation for the first disbursement, demonstrate the great effort made by all the public administrations and managers of the Plan and place Spain as a leading country in the management of the Recovery Mechanism at the European level. It will be in 2022 when the cruising speed of the Plan’s management is reached, a multi-year instrument linked to milestones and objectives.