The European Commission has authorized the release of the third tranche of next-generation European EU funds for Spain, created in 2020 to help the continent emerge from the coronavirus crisis, as reported this Friday. The country will receive another 6,000 million euros after reaching the milestones and targets agreed with Brussels under the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.

This is the amount that Spain requested in November 2022. Therefore, this package did not entail an assessment of the key reforms associated with the next package, such as the latest part of the pension or tax reform. “The milestones and completed reforms once again demonstrate the significant progress made by Spain in the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan,” the European Commission said in a statement.

In this case, the reforms included the entry into force of the law on telecommunications; reforms to speed up the installation of electric vehicle charging infrastructure in car parks; bankruptcy law to improve the efficiency of insolvency proceedings; the other is to improve the system of vocational training and increase its attractiveness; legislation to combat tax fraud and tax evasion; reform of the social security contribution system for self-employed workers and revision of the existing system of supplementary pensions or company pension plans.

Thus, Spain will be the first country to receive the third payment of funds, although it will still have to wait for the approval of member states before the payment can be made. As this media outlet has learned, the Commission welcomes the government’s pace when it comes to approving the agreed reforms and expects the money to arrive in March. In total, these 6 billion will be added to the already received 31.036 million – an advance in the amount of 9.036 million and 22 billion of the first two tranches.

Next week, a delegation from the European Parliamentary Committee on Budgetary Control will visit the country to assess the application of Spain’s recovery and resilience plan. It will be composed of 10 MEPs who are members of various political groups and will meet with First Vice President and Economy Minister Nadia Calvinho; Finance Minister Maria Jesus Montero and Social Security Minister José Luis Escrivá.

In addition, they will hold meetings with those in charge of the recovery plan, with audit and anti-fraud departments, with regional advisers from Andalusia, Madrid, Castile-La Mancha, Extremadura and Aragon, as well as with various business organizations, unions , banks and specialized journalists. .