The Netherlands will receive the first money from the EU recovery fund

The Netherlands has received an initial amount (1.3 billion euros) from the European corona recovery fund. The fund, which was established after the corona crisis, intends to make EU member states greener and more sustainable after the corona pandemic.

At the time, this was the first time that the European Union took on debt to raise additional funds. The corona recovery fund is the largest stimulus package in European history. There are 750 billion in the fund for the 27 EU countries. About half of that amount is given as a loan, the other half is made up of gifts.

The Dutch cabinet had to submit a request to the European Commission for the money. To achieve this, reforms were implemented, including environmental taxes, the housing market and the pension system.

The government wants to spend the money on green measures, laptops for students and increasing the capacity of ICU hospitals, among other things.

The Netherlands is entitled to a total of 5.4 billion euros from the fund. Almost all countries in the European Union have already received funds. The Netherlands was the last of the 27 member states to submit its plans.

Last year, the European Court of Audit ruled that there is insufficient visibility into the spending of hundreds of billions of euros from the corona recovery fund. There is also money left over from the fund at this time. Member states are slow to implement the necessary reforms, causing payments to fall behind. The question is whether the date of 2026 for all the money will be paid.

This may also apply to the Netherlands. In the million dollar bill from earlier this month, the cabinet said that the total amount of 5.4 billion has already been recorded. “Any reduction will lead to a standstill in the budget.”