The European Commission has definitively delivered this Friday to Spain the 6,000 million euros of the third tranche of recovery funds after the Member States have given their approval to a disbursement that brings to some 37,000 million the Next Generation fund subsidies received up to now for the country

The Community Executive informed in a communication of the payment, which confirms that Spain has already obtained more than half of the 69,500 million euros in transfers that it has assigned so far from the recovery fund. Spain, thus, remains the community partner that has received the most money to date.

Brussels approved the disbursement on February 17 after verifying that Spain had implemented the reforms and investments promised for the first half of 2022, specifically 23 milestones and 6 objectives; as well as corrected some deficiencies that had been detected in the audit system. Now, the Member States have confirmed the green light to Spain and the Commission has made the delivery effective.

Among the milestones of the third tranche validated this Friday are the reform of the Bankruptcy Law, the Law on the Comprehensive Vocational Training System, the reform of the Social Security contribution system for self-employed workers, the Law on Prevention Measures and Fight against Tax Fraud or other reforms for the development and promotion of investments related to renewable energies.

The disbursement was also linked to advances in R+D+i projects in the automotive sector, the financing of projects to promote the sustainability and competitiveness of agriculture and livestock, the reinforcement of the fight against forest fires o actions to improve the rate of access to the minimum vital income, among other milestones and objectives.

Spain officially submitted the payment request last November, after concluding that the 29 milestones and objectives associated with the payment had already been met. The satisfactory evaluation of Brussels means that the country has already achieved, in the eyes of the Commission, 121 of the 416 milestones and objectives included in the plan.

In addition to economic oxygen, the yes of Brussels and the Member States supposes the community validation of the computer system that Spain has developed to analyze and audit the execution of investments, a tool included in milestone 173 of the plan and whose final implementation had been delayed. This issue, as well as the control of the funds, was one of the controversies that Spain experienced in the days prior to the mission of MEPs that traveled to Madrid to analyze how European money was being used.

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