RRF: Positive assessment of Croatia’s €700m recovery request

Brussels, 26 October 2023
The Commission has yesterday endorsed a positive preliminary assessment of Croatia’s payment request for €700 million of grants under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the key instrument at the heart of NextGenerationEU.

On 24 July 2023, Croatia submitted to the Commission a payment request based on the achievement of the 32 milestones and 13 targets selected in the Council Implementing Decision for the third payment request. This includes reforms related to healthcare, science and higher education, research and innovation, labour market, waste management and renewable energy sources, as well as investments in energy renovation of buildings, green and digital transition of tourism and reducing the administrative burden for businesses.

With their request, the Croatian authorities provided detailed and comprehensive evidence demonstrating the fulfilment of the 32 milestones and 13 targets. The Commission has thoroughly assessed this information before presenting its positive preliminary assessment of the payment request.

The Croatian recovery and resilience plan is supported by €5.5 billion in grants. Croatia requested to modify its plan and add a REPowerEU chapter on 31 August 2023. The Commission is currently assessing Croatia’s revised plan. Croatia has so far received €2.2 billion in RRF support. This includes €818 million in pre-financing paid in September 2021, followed by two payments worth €700 million each disbursed in June 2022 and December 2022.

Payments under the RRF are performance-based and contingent on Member States implementing the investments and reforms outlined in their respective recovery and resilience plans.

Next steps

The Commission has now sent its positive preliminary assessment of Croatia’s fulfilment of the milestones and targets required for this payment to the Economic and Financial Committee (EFC), asking for its opinion. Following the EFC’s opinion, the Commission will adopt the final decision on the disbursement of the financial contribution, in accordance with the examination procedure, through a comitology committee. Following the adoption of the decision by the Commission, the disbursement to Croatia can take place.

The Commission will assess further payment requests by Croatia based on the fulfilment of the milestones and targets outlined in the Council Implementing Decision, reflecting progress on the implementation of the investments and reforms.

The amounts disbursed to the Member States are published in the Recovery and Resilience Scoreboard, which shows progress of the implementation of the national recovery and resilience plans.

Members of the College said

President Ursula von der Leyen said:

“My congratulations to Croatia! Croatia is set to receive a third payment worth €700 million under its plan, once Member States have given their green light. Croatia has made good progress on its recovery and resilience plan, with for instance a new strategy to make tourism more sustainable. It is also investing in flood protection measures and in the renovation of buildings to reduce energy consumption. We will continue to support Croatia in making its recovery plan a success.”

For More Information

Croatia’s Recovery and resilience plan

General information on the RRF

Recovery and Resilience Facility

Recovery and Resilience Scoreboard

Recovery and Resilience Facility Regulation

Question and Answers on the Recovery and Resilience Facility

Quotes

My congratulations to Croatia! Croatia is set to receive a third payment worth €700 million under its plan, once Member States have given their green light. Croatia has made good progress on its recovery and resilience plan, with for instance a new strategy to make tourism more sustainable. It is also investing in flood protection measures and in the renovation of buildings to reduce energy consumption. We will continue to support Croatia in making its recovery plan a success.

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission – 26/10/2023

Congratulations to Croatia for meeting the next set of milestones and targets set out in its recovery and resilience plan. With this third payment request, Croatia is continuing to press ahead with its agenda of reforms and investments. Croatia is improving its water and waste management systems, boosting the uptake of renewable energy and developing sustainable tourism. It is taking steps to digitalise the public administration and justice system, as well as to reduce administrative costs and regulatory barriers for businesses. Once the Commission’s assessment is reviewed and approved by Member States, Croatia should receive €700 million in grants.

Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice-President for an Economy that Works for People – 26/10/2023

Our positive preliminary assessment of Croatia’s third payment request marks another important step in the roll-out of the country’s ambitious recovery and resilience plan. Our assessment found that Croatia has successfully implemented the 45 milestones and targets linked to its payment request. These include investments and reforms to increase the take-up of renewables, improve the higher education system and digitalise the public sector. Once the relevant procedures are finalised, we will be able to make a payment of EUR 700 million. As we approach the halfway mark of this unprecedented recovery programme, continuing to deliver on the country’s reform and investment agenda will be crucial to support Croatia’s economic transformation.

Paolo Gentiloni, Commissioner for Economy – 26/10/2023

Source – EU Commission

Cookie	Duration	Description
__stripe_mid		This cookie is set by Stripe payment gateway. This cookie is used to enable payment on the website without storing any patment information on a server.
__stripe_sid		This cookie is set by Stripe payment gateway. This cookie is used to enable payment on the website without storing any patment information on a server.
_abck		This cookie is used to detect and defend when a client attempt to replay a cookie.This cookie manages the interaction with online bots and takes the appropriate actions.
_wpfuuid		This cookie is used by the WPForms WordPress plugin. The cookie is used to allows the paid version of the plugin to connect entries by the same user and is used for some additional features like the Form Abandonment addon.
ASP.NET_SessionId		Issued by Microsoft's ASP.NET Application, this cookie stores session data during a user's website visit.
AWSALBCORS		This cookie is managed by Amazon Web Services and is used for load balancing.
bm_sz		This cookie is set by the provider Akamai Bot Manager. This cookie is used to manage the interaction with the online bots. It also helps in fraud preventions
cookielawinfo-checbox-analytics		This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checbox-functional		The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checbox-others		This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary		This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance		This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
elementor		This cookie is used by the website's WordPress theme. It allows the website owner to implement or change the website's content in real-time.
JSESSIONID		Used by sites written in JSP. General purpose platform session cookies that are used to maintain users' state across page requests.
viewed_cookie_policy		The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.

Cookie	Duration	Description
_ga		The _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors.
_ga_4L7PKQPHHV		This cookie is installed by Google Analytics.
_ga_T50H0MNN9J		This cookie is installed by Google Analytics.
_gat_gtag_UA_12289088_5		Set by Google to distinguish users.
_gcl_au		Provided by Google Tag Manager to experiment advertisement efficiency of websites using their services.
_gid		Installed by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously.

Cookie	Duration	Description
_mcid		No description available.
_swa_u		This cookie is set by the provider Sitewit.com. This cookie is used for statistical report and analysis.
ak_bmsc		No description available.
AWSALB		AWSALB is a cookie generated by the Application load balancer in the Amazon Web Services. It works slightly different from AWSELB.
ec_store_chameleon_font		No description available.
FCCDCF		No description available.
issuem_lp		No description available.
lp_us_his		No description
m		No description available.

Next steps

Members of the College said

For More Information

3rd payment request

2nd payment request

1st payment request

Prefinancing

Croatia’s recovery and resilience plan

Updated Recovery and resilience plan

Quotes

3^rd payment request

2^nd payment request

1^st payment request