NextGenerationEU: European Commission disburses pre-financing payments to Austria, Czechia and Croatia

The European Commission has today disbursed €450 million to Austria, €915 million to Czechia and €818 million to Croatia in pre-financing under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). These payments are equivalent to 13% of each country’s grant allocation under the RRF. These pre-financing payments will help to kick-start the implementation of the crucial investment and reform measures outlined in each national recovery and resilience plan. The Commission will authorise further disbursements based on the implementation of the investments and reforms outlined in the national recovery and resilience plans. Austria is set to receive €3.5 billion, Czechia €7 billion and Croatia €6.3 billion over the lifetime of their plans. Today’s disbursements follow the recent successful implementation of the first borrowing operations under NextGenerationEU. By the end of the year, the Commission intends to raise up to a total of €80 billion in long-term funding, complemented by short-term EU-Bills, to fund the first planned disbursements to Member States under NextGenerationEU. The RRF is at the heart of NextGenerationEU which will provide €800 billion (in current prices) to support investments and reforms across Member States. The Austrian, Czech and Croatian plans are part of the unprecedented EU response to emerge stronger from the COVID-19 crisis, fostering the green and digital transitions and strengthening resilience and cohesion in our societies.