EU distributes first payments from COVID-19 war chest

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BRUSSELS, June 28 (Reuters) – The European Union on Monday distributed the first funds from its massive COVID-19 stimulus fund, in the form of grants to create jobs and support businesses in economies ravaged by the pandemic.

The 27 EU countries are all in line to get money from a fund worth 800 billion euros ($ 954.32 billion) in grants and loans, which is financed by debt lifted by the European Commission on behalf of the Member States.

The Commission, the EU executive, said on Monday it had disbursed the fund’s first funds – € 800 million in grants to 16 EU countries, including France, Germany, Denmark , Estonia and the Czech Republic.

“I am very happy that we have managed to launch NextGenerationEU broadcasts as planned,” European Budget Commissioner Johannes Hahn said in a statement.

The COVID-19 stimulus fund is known as NextGenerationEU.

The money will fund 41 national and regional programs aimed at bridging the gap between emergency response measures and long-term investments, through measures to strengthen health systems, create jobs or provide a support for business investment.

It will support projects that help reduce disparities in the economic strength of different regions – known in EU jargon as “cohesion funding”. Countries can also use it to reimburse projects dating back to February 2020.

To benefit from the EU’s clawback money, each government had to define how it would spend its share, with a caveat that at least 37% must go to tackling climate change and at least 20% to return. the economy adapted to the digital age.

($ 1 = € 0.8383)

Reporting by Kate Abnett Editing by John Chalmers and Gareth Jones

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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