Pedro Sánchez presents Recovery Plan to guide implementation of 72 billion euros from European funds to 2023

During the presentation, the President of the Government of Spain highlighted that this Plan will trigger the development of the second great modernisation of the Spanish economy, which will allow Spain "to grow in a new fashion on much stronger foundations", explained the President of the Government.

A Plan that transforms

The Recovery Plan, inspired by the Agenda for Change, the 2030 Agenda and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, will free up half of the resources assigned to Spain over the next three years under the Next Generation EU instrument. In other words, this Plan will guide the implementation of close to 72 billion euros between 2021 and 2023 and, furthermore, precisely complies with the priorities of the European Recovery Fund: "green" investments account for more than 37% of the whole Plan and digitalisation for close to 33%.

The Plan designed for the next three years is structured around the four transformations that the government has placed since the outset, at the very heart of the economic policy strategy - the ecological transition, the digital transformation, gender equality and social and territorial cohesion. These are four crucial lines of work in the extraordinary response our country is setting in motion to recover well-being and to boost the economy in the long term.

The European Recovery Fund includes two instruments through which resources will be channelled: on the one hand, the Recovery and Resilience Facility, which accounts for the lion's share, with 59 billion euros in direct transfers, and, on the other hand, the REACT-EU, which allows our country to obtain financing for the sum of 12.4 billion euros.

Government brings forward deadlines and pay-out of 27 billion euros under Plan

No time must be lost in the recovery and transformation process of the Spanish economy. For this reason, the government has decided to bring forward 27 billion euros under this Plan in the upcoming National Budget which, despite the deadlines used by the European Commission for pay-outs, will allow the implementation of the Plan to be speeded up as from the approval of the National Budget.

In this regard, the President of the Government invited the different political forces to support a Budget for progress and for the country. "The Plan we present today and the National Budget to activate this provides a unique opportunity to show the impetus of our country and to test out good politics that facilitate agreements and provide solutions", remarked the President of the Government.

10 guiding policies

The Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan is structured around 10 guiding policies that will directly affect those productive sectors with the greatest capacity for the transformation of our economic and social fabric.

1. The first of these is the Urban and Rural Agenda, the fight against rural depopulation and the development of agriculture. 16% of the resources are accounted for in this policy, the goals of which include improving living conditions in urban environments and providing a response to the needs of the rural environment, maintaining population levels and creating jobs.
2. The second policy, which will receive 12% of the resources, focuses on promoting resilient infrastructures and eco-systems through such projects as the Conservation and Restoration of Ecosystems Plan, and the Plan for the Preservation of Urban, Energy and Transport Infrastructures, among others.
3. The third guiding policy is established to harness our country's potential to strategically position us as leaders in the energy renewal - the Just and Inclusive Energy Transition, to which 9% of the resources are allocated.
4. The fourth guiding policy will promote a public administration for the 21st Century, so that public authorities act as drivers of technological changes. The Modernisation of the Justice System figures among the reforms included in this line of work. 5% of the resources will be allocated to this fourth policy.
5. The fifth policy is the modernisation and digitalisation of the ecosystem of our companies, which 17% of the funds will be allocated to, given the urgent need to support the business fabric and guarantee our industrial competitiveness.
6. This health crisis has placed science in a pre-eminent position as a key driver of the reconstruction plans. Accordingly, the sixth guiding policy is the Pact for Science and Innovation and the strengthening of the National Health System, which will be allocated 17% of the resources.
7. The seventh guiding policy is education and knowledge, continuous training and developing capacities. This policy will account for 18% of the resources since, if there is one key element to ensure that the Plan has the desired impact, it is investment in human capital.
8. The eighth guiding policy is the new economy of care and employment policies. This heading includes, among others, action plans for the economy of long-term care for the elderly and dependents, strengthening the National Dependency System and the modernisation of active employment policies. This policy will be allocated 6% of the resources.
9. The ninth guiding policy, allocated 1.1% of the resources, is the development of culture and sport - two essential industries to develop a free and open society.
10. The tenth and final policy will address the modernisation of the fiscal system, increasing its progressive nature and redistributing resources to achieve inclusive and sustainable growth.

Collaboration and effective governance

In order to guarantee the correct implementation of the funds, monitoring and coordination structures will be reformed and developed. On the one hand, an Inter-ministerial Committee will be set up, chaired by the President of the Government, and a Unit to Monitor the Recovery Fund will be set up through the Chief of Staff's Office of the Presidency of the Government.

In addition, specific collaboration will be formalised with the regional governments and the Recovery Fund will be introduced in the regular debates of the upcoming Conferences of Regional Presidents. Ongoing dialogue will be facilitated with the companies that take part in the projects and periodic accountability mechanisms will be set in motion before Parliament.

Furthermore, in order to guarantee flexibility and speed up the absorption of the funds, a far-reaching reform will be introduced of the rules and laws of Central Government on three fronts. Firstly, through the design of governance for funds that is effective, strengthening the administrative structures responsible for this challenge; secondly, the government will undertake the legal and administrative reforms that are necessary to ensure that the funds are managed impeccably and implemented flexibly and transparently; and thirdly, administrative burdens will be eliminated and bottlenecks that slow down and hinder the launch and implementation of projects will be resolved so that bureaucracy does not halt the recovery of the economy.

Non official translation