Commission endorses positive preliminary assessment of Finland’s request for €202 million disbursement under the Recovery and Resilience Facility
Today, the Commission has endorsed a positive preliminary assessment of Finland’s first payment request for €202 million in grants under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the key instrument at the heart of NextGenerationEU.
On 10 November 2023, Finland submitted to the Commission a payment request based on the achievement of the 20 milestones set out in the Council Implementing Decision for the first instalment.
These cover a set of transformative reforms such as tax reforms to promote the electrification of industry and encourage investment in low-carbon technologies, tax incentives to promote sustainable transport and the use of electric vehicles, improvements to employment opportunities through matching continuous learning opportunities with labour market needs and key legislation in the context of the social, healthcare and rescue services reform.
The milestones also include key investments in support of the green and digital transition, such as the transformation of energy infrastructure and new energy technologies and the production and use of low-emission hydrogen. Other key investments target the reduction of climate and environmental impacts of buildings and support precision forestry to promote climate resilient measures and environmental sustainability.
With their request, the Finnish authorities provided detailed and comprehensive evidence demonstrating the fulfilment of the 20 milestones. The Commission has thoroughly assessed this information before presenting its positive preliminary assessment of the payment request.
The Finnish recovery and resilience plan includes a wide range of investment and reform measures in 14 thematic components. The plan will be financed by €1.95 billion in grants. To date, Finland has already received €271 million in pre-financing.
Payments under the RRF are performance-based and contingent on Member States implementing the investments and reforms outlined in their respective recovery and resilience plans.
Next steps
The Commission has now sent its positive preliminary assessment of Finland’s fulfilment of the milestones and targets required for this payment to the Economic and Financial Committee (EFC), asking for its opinion. The EFC’s opinion, to be delivered within a maximum of four weeks, should be taken into account in the Commission’s assessment. Following the EFC’s opinion, the Commission will adopt the final decision on the disbursement of the financial contribution, in accordance with the examination procedure, through a comitology committee. Following the adoption of the decision by the Commission, the disbursement to Finland can take place.
The Commission will assess further payment requests by Finland based on the fulfilment of the milestones outlined in the Council Implementing Decision, reflecting progress on the implementation of the investments and reforms.
The amounts disbursed to the Member States are published in the Recovery and Resilience Scoreboard, which shows progress of the implementation of the national recovery and resilience plans.
Members of the College said:
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said:
“Today I am happy to announce excellent news for Finland. Once EU countries give their agreement, Finland will receive a first grant payment of €202 million under the Recovery and Resilience Facility. Finland has kicked off important reforms and investments, such as tax incentives to promote clean mobility, reforms to improve employment opportunities and investments in low-carbon technologies. Hyvä, Suomi. We walk this road together.”
