The European Commission approves the fourth disbursement of the Recovery Plan, for which Spain will receive some €10 billion

The European Commission has approved the fourth disbursement of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR) for Spain, after a preliminary appraisal has positively assessed the fulfilment of 60 milestones and targets (44 milestones and 16 targets) linked to this fourth disbursement. This means that Spain will receive almost €10 billion corresponding to this disbursement.

The fourth disbursement covers a total of 34 reforms and 26 investments, in areas such as the digital transformation and energy transition of the economy, pensions, research, development and innovation, education, water treatment, digitisation of public services, including justice, and inter-territorial cooperation.

The Commission has thereby validated the 44 milestones and 16 of the 17 objectives proposed by Spain. The 'Agents of Change Programme' reformulated in the 'Kit Consulting' programme remains to be fulfilled with the intermediate objective of an investment that is expected to be completed by December 2025 and aims to support the digitisation of at least 15,000 small and medium-sized enterprises.

The initial programme has been redesigned due to low demand and a new call has been launched to meet the intermediate objective in the following months. The new programme, called 'Kit Consulting', focuses on a grant of up to €24,000 to contract a consultancy service on the technologies most in demand by companies in recent years: AI, data and cybersecurity. Interested companies will be able to apply for this service from 18 June.

Since the launch of the invitation to join this programme, around 900 applications have been received. The first resolution will be announced in the coming hours. with some 500 'digital advisors' registered for the 'Kit Consulting' programme. These actors are key to mobilising SMEs and boosting the implementation of the programme, which is expected to have a rapid roll-out.

In accordance with the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (RRM) regulation and the Commission's Communication on the implementation of the RRM of 21 February 2023, Spain will be able to meet this objective in the coming months and receive its share of the funds linked to it.

The Commission must now submit its positive assessment of the 60 milestones and targets to the Economic and Financial Committee (EFC), which must deliver an opinion within four weeks at the latest. To this end, the EFC will be supported by the Economic Policy Committee (EPC). Once the EFC's opinion has been issued, the Commission will reflect it in the corresponding payment decision, which could take place within approximately one month.

Although the final validation of the payment figures has yet to be completed, in line with the Commission's methodology, the government estimates that around €158 million will remain outstanding, which will be paid in the coming months once the outstanding target has been met.

EU leaders in transfers

The validation of these 60 milestones and targets is expected to involve the disbursement of close to €10 billion, almost 99% of the total requested.

This amount is in addition to the more than €38 billion already received in transfers, bringing the total to nearly €48 billion, 60% of its share of non-refundable transfers.

Spain is a leader in the implementation of plan transfers. It is the country with the highest number of milestones and targets achieved in absolute terms, with 181, ahead of Italy and France. With this almost €10 billion, Spain is also the EU country that will have received the most transfers from NextGenerationEU funds, with a total of almost €48 billion.

Some of the most important milestones and objectives

Among the main milestones and objectives validated by the Commission, those adopted in the field of pensions stand out, including the replacement of the sustainability factor by an intergenerational equity mechanism, the adjustment of the calculation period for the calculation of retirement pensions and the adjustment of the maximum contribution base. These measures will contribute to the fairness and sustainability of the pension system.

Also noteworthy are the reforms aimed at boosting entrepreneurship and the business climate, specifically the entry into force of the Crea y Crece Law and the Startups Law. These laws aim to simplify start-up procedures and promote diversified sources of finance for business growth, as well as to establish a favourable framework for the establishment and growth of highly innovative start-ups.

Standing out among the measures aimed at achieving a greener and more sustainable economy are the package of measures on the circular economy and the Waste and Contaminated Soil Act.

For its part, the Housing Act has been an important milestone in underpinning the right to decent and adequate housing through a pioneering regulation in Spain of the different public instruments for planning, programming and collaboration between administrations.

Commitments in the area of the civil service were also fulfilled with the approval of legislative measures to improve the planning, organisation and management of human resources, the reinforcement of transparency and the streamlining of selection processes and the regulation of performance evaluation. To this must be added changes in access to senior civil servant posts, so that the criteria of merit and competence prevail, as well as the regulation of the figure of the professional public manager in the state administration.

Reforms and investments to improve the efficiency and digitisation of judicial procedures are also highlighted. The initiatives intensify the use of technology to enable telematic court actions to be carried out with full legal certainty and to introduce reforms in procedural legislation to increase the speed of proceedings in the contentious-administrative and social orders.

Alongside reforms, this payment claim is increasingly weighted towards investments, the fulfilment of which is evidence that Recovery Plan funds are flowing to all areas of the economy. Programmes to support SMEs in equipping them with the necessary skills and tools to contribute to the digital transition and meet the challenges arising from it deserve particular attention.

Investments in R&D projects and progress in the Strategic Projects for Economic Recovery and Transformation (PERTEs) are also noteworthy, with a very significant contribution from the PERTE for Electric Vehicles.

In addition, the Recovery Plan also benefits towns, with major investments for sustainable mobility and urban action plans. The rural world is also benefiting from the investments made in this fourth disbursement, with measures to improve the efficiency and digitalisation of irrigation.

There is also substantial investment in strategic areas, such as the provision of 50,000 new vocational training places, the improvement and sustainability of irrigated areas, the restoration of areas and ecosystems on the coast and the trans-European transport networks.

Non official translation