The ministers of economy from the European Union states adopted decisions approving the modified recovery and resilience plans of Denmark, Lithuania, Austria and Sweden on Thursday.
The amended recovery and resilience plans now include a new chapter on REPowerEU. This will contribute to accelerating the transition of countries towards clean energy, diversifying their energy supply sources and improving their energy efficiency, according to Agerpres.
To finance the increased ambition of their plans, Denmark, Lithuania and Sweden requested to transfer their share of the Brexit adjustment reserve (RAB) to the plans, in accordance with the REPowerEU Regulation. According to the analysis of the European Commission, the changes presented by the member states do not affect the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and coherence of their recovery and resilience plans.
On 31 May 2023, Denmark submitted its amended recovery and resilience plan, which includes a new chapter on REPowerEU.
The total financial contribution available for Denmark will now be EUR 1.63 billion in grants. Denmark has not applied for loans.
The amended plan puts a stronger emphasis on the green transition, allocating 69% (up from 59% in the original plan) of available funds to measures that support climate goals. The plan also remains ambitious in the digital domain, allocating 27% (up from 25% in the original plan) of its total allocation to support the digital transition.
On June 30 this year, Lithuania presented an amended national plan, which includes a chapter on REPowerEU. The amended plan places a massive emphasis on the green transition, allocating 37.4% of available funds to measures supporting climate goals. The plan currently stands at €3.85 billion (€2.3 billion in grants and €1.55 billion in loans), which is almost double the value of the original recovery and resilience plan. Lithuania’s revised plan also strengthens digital ambition and the social dimension.
On 14 July 2023, Austria submitted an amended national plan, which includes a chapter on REPowerEU. In its case, the amended plan places a significant emphasis on the green transition, allocating 56% of available funds to measures that support climate goals. The plan will now benefit from grants worth 3.96 billion euros.
Also on July 14, Sweden presented an amended recovery and resilience plan, which includes a new chapter on REPowerEU. The amended plan focuses heavily on the green transition, allocating 43.6% of available funds to measures supporting climate goals. The level of digital ambition of the plan increases slightly, and its social dimension remains solid. The EU’s contribution to the plan currently amounts to 3.45 billion euros in grants.
The Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (RMR) is the large-scale financial support program adopted by the EU in response to the challenges that the pandemic has created for the European economy. It is the centerpiece of NextGenerationEU, a temporary recovery tool that allows the European Commission to raise funds to help repair the immediate economic and social damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.