Finland requests third payment from EU under Recovery and Resilience Plan

Finland believes it has achieved further milestones in its Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP). The Ministry of Finance filed the third payment request under the RRP with the European Commission on Tuesday 30 September.

The request is the third of a total of six payment requests. The total amount of the request is EUR 283 million, which is about 15 per cent of the total funding to be granted to Finland through the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). However, the Commission will deduct advance payments already received by Finland and administrative costs from this amount. This means that Finland can receive about EUR 245 million based on this request. For the payment to be made, Finland must have met the milestones and targets set for the payment request in a manner approved by the Commission.

Finland received a total of about EUR 296 million in advance payments. Finland received a net payment of EUR 202 million based on the first payment request and EUR 378 million based on the second.

Payment request based on 22 milestones

Finland’s payment request is based on 22 milestones set in its RRP. The milestones relate to, for example:

• investments in energy technology;
• electrification and decarbonisation of industrial processes;
• reuse and recycling projects;
• the Nature Conservation Act;
• nutrient recycling and utilisation;
• targeted forestry;
• the Residential and Commercial Property Information System;
• digital functions of employment services;
• the Act on Unemployment Security;
• the Aliens Act;
• a model for anticipating labour and competence needs.

Next steps

The European Commission has two months to assess Finland’s payment request. The Commission will then publish a preliminary assessment of whether Finland has reached its milestones. The EU Member States will decide whether to approve the payment request in a comitology procedure. 
The Recovery and Resilience Plan is part of the Sustainable Growth Programme for Finland, which will boost reforms and investments. The Sustainable Growth Programme is funded mainly through NextGenerationEU.

Inquiries:
Laura Vartia, Senior Ministerial Adviser, tel. +358 295 530 228, laura.vartia(at)gov.fi
Marketta Henriksson, Head of the Secretariat for EU and International Affairs, tel. +358 295 530 441, marketta.henriksson(at)gov.fi