The Govern will manage this year a total of 2,742 million euros from European funds ‘Next Generation’. Of the total amount, 614.8 million correspond to React-UE, which includes aid for health, education, employment and social services programs; and 1,527 million to recovery and resilience mechanism (MRR). In addition, from the Generalitat they expect another additional 600 million that may come from the different sectoral conferences that will take place during the year.
These are figures that the Secretary for Economic Affairs and European Funds anticipated this week, Matilde Villarroya, during an appearance in Parliament. Among the projects with resources from the MRR, the 386.7 million destined to rehabilitation and urban agenda; the shock plan to ensure and reinforce the inclusion policies, with 246.1 million; the modernization and digitization of education system, including education from 0 to 3 years, with 123.9 million or the program for new public policies for a dynamic, resilient and even labor market, with 100.6 million.
Last year, 1,491 million were already assigned to Catalonia, of which, as of December 31, 1,205.7 million had been deposited in the treasury of the Generalitat and the rest will arrive in the coming weeks. In addition, 1,706 million were allocated to Catalonia from the React fund for the 2021-2023 period through the reprogramming of the operational program (OP), Feder and the European Social Fund (ESF) to favor overcoming the crisis caused by the pandemic and its social consequences and promote a green, digital and resilient recovery of the economy.
Entities, municipalities and universities
Between last year and the beginning of this year, 16 public calls have been made for an amount of 437.7 million. Most opened between last October and the current month. In addition to the calls from the Generalitat, the State, through the various ministries, has transferred 203.7 million to various public and private entities in Catalonia, such as municipalities, universities, research centers or foundations. Among the beneficiaries are the Alba Synchrotron (7.5 million) or the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (18.7 million), among others.
The Government insists on considering that the governance of the funds is carried out with a “excessive centralism” and reserves to the autonomies a role of “mere executors”. Last February, the Catalan Executive approved its own agenda of projects and policies to take advantage of European funds through the commission for the preparation of the plan for economic reactivation and social protection, the so-called CORECO, together with the Catalonia-Next Generation EU advisory committee , made up of a group of experts.
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They were identified 27 emblematic projects, although the current idea is to concentrate efforts on a smaller number with the aim of making them more attractive to be qualified for the ‘Next Generation’ resources, according to sources from the Catalan Executive. The initial plan ranged from a new model of autonomy and care for people to health or the capture of CO2 to efficient mobility or batteries for electric vehicles. They are all transformative initiatives with the capacity to pull in sectors and SMEs.
The mechanisms of the ‘Next Generation’
The ‘Next Generation’ fund, created to overcome the crisis caused by the pandemic, has a budget of 750,000 million euros. Of this amount, 672,500 million are from the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (MRR); and 47.5 billion to React-EU. Spain corresponds to 140,000 million first, of which 69,528 million are lost funds; and 12,436 million of the second.
To take advantage of these resources, the Government drew up a recovery, transformation and resilience plan in which green and digital transformation prevail. This project, which foresees investments with the resources of the European fund linked to the achievement of different milestones and reforms, has 30 components that are supported by 10 levers.
These plans are the urban and rural agenda, resilient infrastructure and ecosystems, fair and inclusive energy transition, an administration for the 21st century, modernization and digitalization of companies, pact for science and innovation and reinforcement of the national health system, education and knowledge, continuous training and skills development, new city economy and employment policy, promotion of the culture and sports industry and modernization of the tax system for inclusive and sustainable growth.