The cabinet presented its plans for the European corona recovery fund to the House of Representatives on Monday. However, no new policy has been forthcoming: all the plans included are already in the coalition agreement or in existing policy. This is evident from a letter to parliament by Minister of Finance Sigrid Kaag (D66). The Netherlands is the last EU country that still has to submit plans to the European Commission.
It concerns a total of 39 plans in the areas of climate, public housing, digitization and the labor market, among other things. The Netherlands initially thought it could claim almost 6 billion euros from the recovery fund, but that became 4.7 billion due to the ‘better than expected’ performing economy.
The cabinet has now sent plans for 7.7 billion euros to the House. He can now debate which of these plans will be financed with the recovery fund, before the final proposal goes to the European Commission. However, it is not about new policy; some plans are only elaborated a bit further than in the coalition agreement.
The Netherlands itself successfully urged to attach – for example green – criteria to the recovery fund. The fund consists of 750 billion euros, of which 390 billion in grants and 360 billion in loans. Spain and Italy claim the largest amounts; both nearly 70 billion euros. The Netherlands has until the summer to submit its plans to the European Commission.