Almost a year after the EU decision for the program under the title “NextGenerationEU”, von der Leyen is expected to give the green light for Austria’s development plan on Monday, it said on Friday. The focus of the projects is on the expansion of railways and broadband as well as eco-investments – in line with the idea behind the EU plan.
The development program has a volume of at least 750 billion euros and is intended to help get the European economy going again and to modernize it. As stated on the website of the EU Commission, it should make Europe “greener, more digital and more crisis-proof”. Part of the money goes as a grant, some as a loan.
Short visit to the Academy of Sciences
Von der Leyen will meet Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) in Vienna on Monday, there will also be a joint press conference according to the Federal Chancellery, after which the Commission President will travel to Slovakia. Von der Leyen will get an idea of the projects in both countries that are being financed under the construction fund.
In Austria it will be the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, it said last week. In addition to Federal Chancellor Kurz, ÖVP Science Minister Heinz Faßmann will also take part in the event.
Detailed plans asked
All states of the Union had to submit detailed construction plans to the EU Commission for the period after the coronavirus pandemic. At least 37 percent of the funds used should flow into climate-friendly projects and 20 percent into digitization.
The commission had two months to review, which has now been completed. On their recommendation, the EU Council of Ministers will have to approve the plans in a few weeks before the first money can actually flow.
“Tour” through all 27 member states
Von der Leyen had announced that he would visit all 27 member states to discuss the development plans in detail. According to media reports, Portugal and Spain were the first stops on their “tour” last week, followed by Greece, Denmark and Luxembourg. The President of the Commission is due to visit Latvia, Germany and Italy on Tuesday, and Belgium and France on Wednesday.
Portugal was the first country to get the green light for its development plan with a volume of 16.6 billion euros, as it was last said from Brussels – Lisbon was to receive 13.9 billion euros as a grant and 2.7 billion euros as a loan. Portugal and Spain were among the first to submit their applications at the end of April. Both are heavily dependent on tourism and suffered severe economic damage as early as 2020.
Not without a debate about debt
Portugal’s gross domestic product (GDP) collapsed by 7.6 percent last year, Spain’s by as much as 10.8 percent. Unemployment rose to 7.1 percent in Portugal and 16 percent in Spain in early 2021. National debt rose to over 130 percent of GDP in both countries. The EU member states not only receive money from the fund, they also have to pay more into the common budget, which led to a renewed discussion of the common financial policy (keyword: “debt union”) around the decision in May.
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