Brussels (The Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The European Council greenlights Luxembourg’s amended plan, including a RepowerEU chapter.
The European Council endorsed the EU Commission’s positive assessment of Luxembourg’s amended recovery and resilience program. The amended plan, including a new REPowerEU chapter, is now worth €241.1 million in grants.
Luxembourg’s RepowerEU chapter will concentrate on the deployment of renewable energy, increasing energy efficiency, and sustainable transport. The modified program allocates 80% of available funds to efforts that support climate purposes, up from 69% in the original plan. The digital ambition and social extent of the plan are maintained.
Luxembourg’s original national recovery and resilience plan was agreed on 13 July 2021. On 16 May 2024, Luxembourg presented an amended plan, including a REPowerEU chapter. The Commission adopted a proposal in support of the assessment of the recovery and resilience plan for Luxembourg on 23 July 2024.
How is the RRF aiding Europe’s economic recovery post-pandemic?
The RRF is the EU’s large-scale financial support programme in reaction to the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic has posed to the European economy. It is the centerpiece of NextGenerationEU, a temporary recovery mechanism that allows the EU Commission to raise funds to help repair the immediate economic and social damage induced by the pandemic.
To benefit from the facility, member states must propose recovery and resilience plans (RRPs) to the Commission, setting out the reforms and investments they plan to implement by the end of 2026.
What are the key objectives of the REPowerEU regulation?
Regulation (EU) 2023/435 as regards REPowerEU chapters, in force since 1 March 2023, seeks to end the EU’s reliance on Russian fossil fuels by saving energy, diversifying energy supplies and revving the clean energy transition. Under the REpowerEU regulation, EU countries have added detailed chapters to their national RRPs to finance critical investments and reforms which will help accomplish the REPowerEU objectives.
RepowerEU improves the RRF financial envelope by €20 billion in new grants. In addition, member states can willingly transfer up to €5.4 billion from the Brexit Adjustment Reserve to the RRF to finance REPowerEU measures. This comes on top of the current transfer possibilities of 5% from the cohesion policy funds (up to €17.9 billion). So far, €648 billion has been dedicated to this end. To date, all RRPs have been agreed, 68 payment requests have been acquired and €265 billion have been disbursed.
