The Council of Ministers plans to approve this Tuesday the so-called addendum to the Recovery Planwhich includes investment and reform commitments with which to attract other 94.300 million of European Next Generation funds until 2026, which will be added to the 70,000 million of the first phase. In total, they will be 164.300 million european funds, in transfers and loans between 2020 and 2026. The addendum will also be used by the Government to modify some milestones and objectives committed in the initial Recovery Plan. Although there is a debate in Europe in favor of extending the deadline for executing the European funds beyond 2026, Spain, for the moment, continues to formally adjust to this goal, while trying to negotiate some extensions, such as the part of the electric vehicle.
34,000 million have already been disbursed
In a first stage, the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan approved by the European Union in July 2021 is serving to channel to Spain a total of 70,000 million of euros of transfers (non-refundable) with which green, digital and social transformation investments are being subsidized in the Spanish economy. Spain has already received three deliveries of money from the European Union for a total of 37,000 million euros, after having certified compliance with 121 milestones (investments and reforms, such as labor) committed to in the Recovery Plan. According to the first vice president Nadia Calviño, 34,000 million of the European funds have already been disbursed and 70% of them (27,000 million) have already been awarded to companies, research centers, individuals and groups of companies through the resolution of the different calls.
New 94,300 million
Now, the addendum is the document that must serve to attract another 7,700 million euros in additional transfers (non-refundable), as well as 84,000 million de euros in loans with which to finance, with a lower interest rate and in a longer term, investments of the Recovery Plan in which the private sector or public administrations participate. The Government has planned to channel these 84,000 million in loans through 12 backgrounds destined to productive sectors and regional projects. All this, in exchange for new commitments to Europe regarding reforms and investments. In addition, the addendum also includes the projects that will be financed with 2,600 million from the new RepowerEU mechanism with which the European Union intends to advance its energy autonomy.
At the end of 2022, the Minister of Economic Affairs, Nadia Calviño presented a first draft of this addendum, on which the Executive has continued to work in order to approve its final and formal version this Tuesday to send it to Brussels before they are held. the general elections next July 23. According to the regulation, the deadline for submitting this addendum would be August 31 of this year.
26,300 million for the Pertes
With the new loans, the Government intends to promote industrialization and strategic autonomy in the fields of energy, agri-food, industry, technology and digitization, reinforcing investments in the 12 strategic projects (Perte) already approved and underway. As anticipated in December, the addendum provides that 26,300 million (the 7,700 million grants plus 18,600 million credits) will be used to reinforce the Pertes in progress.
Autonomous fund of 20,000 million
Among the 12 financing funds provided for in the addendum, the creation of a fund for sustainable investments of the autonomous regions is included, for an amount of 20,000 million, which will be managed with the collaboration of the Official Credit Institute (ICO) and the European Investment Bank (EIB).
ICO credits for 22,500 million for companies
A program endowed with 22,500 million euros of financing that will be articulated through the ICO will have as its objective the modernization of Spanish companies, “with special attention to SMEs”, according to Calviño (15,000 million had been initially planned for this purpose).
It also incorporates a fund of 1,000 million to finance actions to modernize the tourism sector. The creation of financial instruments to support social investments and in the field audiovisual.
Reinforcement of the digital Kit
In addition, it is planned to expand the grant program of the digital Kit, which, after the approval of the addendum, will reach not only SMEs with fewer than 49 workers, but also small and medium-sized companies with 50 or more employees. According to Calviño, this program has already reached 230,000 SMEs.
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An endowment of 2,200 million will serve to introduce new tax incentives for green investments in favor of families and companies.
4,000 million for social housing
The addendum also provides for an ICO line of 4,000 million euros to finance the start-up of 43,000 new social rental homes that President Pedro Sánchez announced before the recent regional and municipal elections.