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Commission greenlights Croatia's payment request of €1.1 billion under NextGenerationEU, supporting economic growth and competitiveness *
Today, the European Commission has positively assessed Croatia's seventh payment request for €1.1 billion under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the cornerstone of NextGenerationEU – the Commission's post-pandemic programme to support Member State's recovery, economic growth, and competitiveness.
The Commission found that Croatia delivered reforms and investments benefitting citizens and businesses, focusing on the key areas of social services, labour market, business environment, digitalisation of government services, energy, transport, water and waste management, as well as capital market development and academic collaboration. These accomplishments have enabled Croatia to fulfil the 22 milestones and 31 targets associated with the seventh payment under its recovery and resilience plan.
The Commission's positive assessment marks a significant step towards the disbursement of the funds to bolster Croatia's economic growth and resilience efforts.
Flagship measures covered by Croatia's payment request include the upgrade of the high-voltage network, strengthening the grid connections, better connecting the south-north grid in the country and increasing the uptake of renewable energy sources. In particular, 300 km of high voltage power line have been built or upgraded, alongside with 40 km of electricity smart systems, which will enhance the digitalisation and efficiency of Croatia's energy system.
Additionally, Croatia has adopted its first strategic framework and action plan to accelerate the development of its national capital market, while pursuing the integration of the national stock exchange with other regional exchanges. Further measures to develop the capital markets focus on attracting institutional investors by digitalising core services and broadening financing sources.
The latter reforms infuse new momentum into Croatia's long-standing priority of improving access to finance, thereby contributing to its future competitiveness and growth.
Next steps
The Commission has now sent its preliminary assessment of Croatia's fulfilment of the milestones and targets required for this payment to the Economic and Financial Committee (EFC), which has four weeks to deliver its opinion. Then, the Commission can adopt a payment decision.
Background
Croatia's recovery and resilience plan includes a wide range of investment and reform measures. The plan will be financed by €10 billion, of which €5.8 billion in grants and €4.2 billion in loans.
For more information
Commission's preliminary assessment of Croatia's seventh payment request
Questions and answers on the RRF payment claim process
Croatia's recovery and resilience plan
Recovery and Resilience Facility
Recovery and Resilience Facility project map
Recovery and Resilience Scoreboard
Recovery and Resilience Facility Regulation
*edited on 1/12 18:35