Brussels, 10 March 2023
Yesterday, Estonia submitted a request to the Commission to modify its recovery and resilience plan, to which it also wants to add a REPowerEU chapter. Estonia is the first country to include a REPowerEU chapter in its recovery and resilience plan.
Estonia’s proposed modification of the plan, which will now be assessed by the Commission, foresees five new investments. These include support to companies to increase energy security and the construction of viaducts for Rail Baltica – a greenfield rail transport infrastructure project with a goal to integrate the Baltic states in the European rail network. Estonia also submitted a dedicated chapter including two reforms and two investments to deliver on the REPowerEU objectives. At the same time, the modified plan includes the removal of four investments and the modification of 13 planned measures.
Estonia’s request to modify its plan is based on the need to factor in the very high inflation experienced in 2022 and the downward revision of its maximum RRF grant allocation, from €969 million to €863 million. The revision is part of the June 2022 update to the RRF grants allocation key and reflects Estonia’s comparatively better economic outcome in 2020 and 2021 than initially foreseen.
Estonia has requested to transfer its share of the Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR), amounting to €6.6 million, to its recovery and resilience plan. These funds, added to Estonia’s REPowerEU grants allocation (€83.4 million), make the submitted modified plan worth €953 million.
The Commission has now up to two months to assess whether the modified plan still fulfils the 11 assessment criteria in the RRF Regulation. If the Commission’s assessment is positive, it will make a proposal for an amended Council Implementing Decision to reflect the changes to the Estonian plan. Member States will then have up to four weeks to endorse the Commission’s assessment.
Source – EU Commission