Brussels – The European Commission announced on Friday the release of the fifth installment of Spain’s recovery and resilience plan, totaling 23.1 billion euros—comprised of 8 billion euros in grants and 16 billion euros in loans. However, Brussels has withheld 1 billion euros due to the government’s failure to achieve two critical milestones: the diesel tax increase and investments in the digitalization of regional and local entities.
According to the European Executive’s statement, these funds are aimed at enhancing renewable energy, streamlining bureaucracy, and improving the efficiency of the justice system. Additionally, investments will be made in short-distance railway transport and enhancing cybersecurity resilience.
Pedro Sánchez, President of the Government, emphasized on his X account that this milestone reinforces Spain’s commitment to modernizing its economy and bolsters its “leadership” in the utilization of European funds.
Spain is receiving these funds alongside Italy, Portugal, Cyprus, and Malta, contributing to a total release of nearly 43 billion euros from the plan designed to tackle the economic impacts of the coronavirus crisis.
Earlier in July, the European Commission indicated that just over 1 billion euros of this payment would remain “suspended” until Spain fulfills these milestones, which now has an additional deadline for the completion of the pending objectives.
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