Spain's massive 163 billion euro loan and grants from the European Union

Extra cash for energy crisis

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporter02/10/2023 16:56

Spain is set to receive a total of 163 billion euros ($172 billion) of European Union pandemic recovery funds after Brussels announced today the approval of the country's request for 83 billion euros in relief loans and RePowerEU financing.

Spain had been allocated 69.5 billion euros in grants, and will receive an additional 7.7 billion after a recalculation, plus another 2.6 billion to offset the energy price shock in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The Commission's clearance of a further 83 billion euros in loans, yet to be confirmed by the European Council, immediately unlocks 1.4 billion euros in REPowerEU pre-financing and allows it to request a loan disbursement of up to 15 billion within 2023, according to the new payment schedule.

In addition, Brussels has agreed to modify the initial recovery plan presented by Madrid in 2021, accepting as many as 52 changes to the initial draft in the face "objective circumstances".

The most significant change is the cancellation of Spain's commitment to implement a pay-as-you-go system for motorway use as a disincentive for polluting transport. Madrid has now committed instead to boosting rail freight transport.

Brussels also accepted that Spain had been unable to achieve some of its milestones and reforms due to early elections in July and that inflation and supply chain disruptions have altered some targets.

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Richard Pearson | about 1 year ago

“Almost 5.5 billion euros of the subsidies from the European funds that were planned to arrive in Spain in 2024 will not do so due to the Government's delays in fulfilling several commitments made with Brussels within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan. The European Commission has accepted the proposal of the Spanish Executive to postpone and modify up to 69 milestones of the plan, which means that a total of 11,747 million euros of subsidies will reach Spain in 2024 compared to the 17,241 million initially planned before the Addendum, approved this Monday by the European Commission” Again, good luck Mrs Von der Leyen

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Richard Pearson | about 1 year ago

While holding the EU council presidency and striving for re-election at home, the Spanish government keeps hiding, as best it can, its poor efforts at distributing the billions in EU recovery funds it has received. The country has failed to provide concrete accounting for the €37.04 billion in NextGeneration funds it has received so far, despite EU mandates. Last February, the European Commission imposed a requirement for countries to publish a biannual ranking of the 100 largest beneficiaries of NextGeneration funds in each of the member states. Spain has yet to publish a single list. Good luck Mrs Von der Leyen

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