Helsinki, 10 November 2023
Finland considers that it has reached the first milestones of its Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP). The Ministry of Finance filed the first payment request under the RRP with the European Commission on Friday 10 November. The total amount of the request is EUR 273 million.
This is the first of six payment requests under Finland’s RRP. In order for the payment to be made, Finland must have met the milestones for the payment request in a manner approved by the Commission. Finland has already received an advance payment of EUR 271 million.
Finland will receive a maximum of EUR 1.8 billion in funding for its RRP from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). The RRF is part of the EU’s recovery plan (NextGenerationEU). Finland will receive a maximum of EUR 2.6 billion from NextGenerationEU in total.
Payment request based on 20 milestones
Finland’s payment request is based on 20 milestones set in its RRP. The milestones relate to, for example:
- investments in energy infrastructure and technology
- reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
- precision forestry projects
- income and excise taxation
- continuous learning services
- research funding
- reforms in the cultural and creative industries
- establishment of the wellbeing services counties and reforms of healthcare, social welfare and rescue services.
Next steps
The European Commission has 2–3 months to assess Finland’s payment request. The Commission will then publish a preliminary assessment of whether Finland has reached its milestones. The EU Member States will decide whether to approve the payment request in a comitology procedure.
The Recovery and Resilience Plan is part of the Sustainable Growth Programme for Finland, which will boost reforms and investments. The Sustainable Growth Programme is funded mainly through NextGenerationEU.
Source – Finnish Government