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  • 11-02-2021 18:51

EU/Presidency: Council finalises Recovery and Resilience Mechanism approval


Brussels, Feb. 11, 2021 (Lusa) - The Council of the European Union on Thursday approved the regulation establishing the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism, the central pillar of the recovery package for the crisis caused by the pandemic, which will be signed on Friday in Brussels by the Portuguese prime minister.

After the European Parliament approved the Mechanism on Tuesday night, the 27 member states' approval was the missing step for the regulation to be formally signed on Friday and published in the EU's official journal on 18 February.

Prime Minister António Costa, representing the Council of the EU, will sign the regulation on Friday in Brussels in a brief ceremony to be held at the European Parliament in Brussels at 10:20 local time (09:20 Lisbon time).

With the publication in the official journal, the regulation will come into force and member states will then be able to officially start submitting their national recovery and resilience plans to access the funds, after they have been assessed by the European Commission and adopted by the Council, currently under the Portuguese presidency.

Provided with €672.5 billion in grants and loans, the Recovery and Resilience Facility is the main element of the recovery package agreed in 2020 by the EU to address the social and economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the 'NextGenerationEU'.

Immediately after the European Parliament's approval, António Costa went on Twitter to "warmly" welcome it and reinforce the call for member states to submit their national plans as soon as possible.

"I very much welcome today's approval by the European Parliament of the Regulation on the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism. It paves the way for its rapid entry into force, allowing national recovery plans to be submitted as soon as possible," Costa wrote.

In his message, Portugal's prime minister said that "a fair, green and digital recovery must be put in place urgently".

MDR/ADB // ADB.

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