31 August is the deadline for Spain to meet the outstanding milestones and objectives of the Recovery Plan agreed by the European Union in July 2020. Once that date is reached, the country has until 30 September to request the final disbursements from the plan designed to restore European economies following the Covid-19 pandemic.
Since Brussels approved the Spanish Government's Recovery Plan in June 2021, Spain has received €78 billion in European funds, representing 76.5% of the total allocated to the country. Approximately €25.8 billion remains at stake: €21.462 billion in direct transfers and €4.4 billion in loans, according to sources from Moncloa.
The Government affirms that Spain is facing the final phase of Recovery Plan implementation with the aim of completing all the committed reforms and investments. The European Commission released €6.234 billion last week corresponding to the sixth payment, including €265 million for two milestones that had been left pending in the previous request.
The Executive is working on formulating the seventh and final disbursement request, which includes three outstanding milestones linked to bilingual vocational training, telecare services and projects for vulnerable groups and microenterprises. Brussels has already given preliminary approval to the reformulations submitted through a technical amendment.
The Government notes that two-thirds of the European aid received has been directed towards driving the green and digital transition, and highlights that 1.5 million companies have received funds from the plan, of which 68% were small and medium-sized enterprises and microenterprises. To mitigate the impact after the end of community aid, the Government has created the sovereign fund España Crece, which aims to mobilise up to €120 billion in public-private co-investment.