Do not wait to receive funds from European Union (EU). This is what the European Commission said to Spain on Thursday, encouraging it to immediately make the investments necessary for the work of reconstruction after DANA – which caused more than 200 deaths in the east and south of the country – because, if the measures are eligible, they will be able to obtain European funding retroactively.
Government sources assured that all avenues were being explored to provide the necessary resources to deal with the tragedy, including the possibility of asking Brussels to reform the recovery and resilience plan, which will make it possible to finance part of the fund anti-crisis for the reconstruction of affected areas.
The regulations provide that capitals will present plan reforms based on justification based on unforeseen circumstances, a clause that the governments of Croatia, Slovenia or Greece have already resorted to, also to remedy damage caused by natural disasters.
The Commission warns that a modification of the plan can take a long time, because after the formal presentation of the Government’s request, a period of three months is activated: two for the evaluation by the Community Executive and another for the reform obtains the approval of the Twenty-Seven.
“It is important to note that the Recovery and Resilience Plan is only one of the sources of financing that the Spanish authorities can choose to use,” he stressed. PE the economic spokesperson of the Commission, Veerle Nuytswhich recalls that, as has happened in other Member States, “it takes some time to estimate the damage and propose reconstruction measures”.
He confirmed that to date, “the Spanish authorities have not formally requested to modify their recovery and resilience plan”, although they remain in contact with the Commission to study “all possible aid”.
“A possible modification of the recovery plan would take some time, but the eligible measures could be financed retroactively,” underlined the spokesperson, who encouraged that the necessary investments be made as quickly as possible since, if they are eligible, the Commission can reimburse them.
