The responsible EU commission transferred 450 million euros to the republic, as the Ministry of Finance announced in Vienna on Tuesday. Austria receives a total of 3.5 billion euros in EU grants for projects that focus on rail and broadband expansion and eco-investments “, explained Finance Minister Gernot Blümel (ÖVP) in a broadcast. “The payments are linked to the achievement of milestones. Therefore, I appeal to all departments to adhere to the given time limits and to set a good example so that the promised funds can flow unhindered and the projects can be implemented quickly.”
In total, Austria submitted projects worth EUR 4.5 billion for the “Development and Resilience Plan”. According to calculations by the EU Commission, based on the 3.5 billion euros, 59 percent of the investments and reforms meet climate protection purposes and 53 percent are driving digitalization. The proportions required by the EU for these areas are thus clearly exceeded.
The reconstruction fund is the heart of the Corona development program “Next Generation EU” agreed in summer 2020 with a volume of around 750 billion euros – adjusted to inflation, the sum is even around 800 billion euros. The money is intended to help get the economy going again after the pandemic and to modernize it at the same time. Part of the money is given as a grant, another part as a loan. The program is financed through debts that will be repaid jointly by 2058.
