Italy receives the first tranche of 21 billion euros from the European corona recovery fund, Belgium has to make do with 5.9 billion | Abroad

In order to cope with the consequences of the corona crisis, the European Commission set up a corona recovery fund of 750 billion euros in the summer of 2020. The Recovery and Resilience Facility, or RRF, is the key portfolio. It includes more than 337 billion euros in subsidies and another 360 billion in cheap loans. That money is distributed among the EU countries according to a specific distribution key. However, the Member States first had to draw up a national recovery plan, including a minimum of green reforms and investments.

Italy is the largest consumer of the European recovery fund. The southern European country will receive 191.5 billion euros, of which 122.6 billion in loans. In relative terms – relative to GDP – only Greece, Croatia and Romania get more.

Italy will now receive a first tranche of 21 billion euros, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen announced on Wednesday. That money will be divided over 51 objectives, such as the digitization of companies, energetic renovations of homes and investments in higher education.

A little more than EUR 5.9 billion in subsidies has been provided for Belgium. That amounts to 1.24 percent of GDP and is more than in neighboring countries, with the exception of France. Denmark, the Scandinavian countries, Austria and Ireland also receive relatively less.

Belgium already received a pre-financing of 770 million euros in August. The actual payout has not yet happened. In any case, the final amount will only be determined in June 2022. If economic growth turns out to be stronger than expected, the sum could be lower.

Earlier this week, the High Council of Finance warned in a report that the European recovery plan is not a ‘free lunch’ for the member states, because the debts incurred by the EU must be repaid. For Belgium, this balance even threatens to turn out negative, as a result of which our country will ultimately have to contribute more net than what it receives in support measures.