Spain had difficulties arriving and Brussels has multiple evaluation tasks, which is why the two parties have been interested in agreeing on a two-month extension to examine the fourth payment of European funds. There are 10,000 million euros that are at stake subject to the fulfillment of 61 milestones and objectives, with a deadline until March 20 that was predicted to be very fair. Now, Spain gains time until May 20 to pass the exam.
With the new deadline, the Minister of Economy, Carlos Body, is confident that one of the key issues that is committed and still very green, such as the unemployment benefit reform that fell in Congress with the vote against Podemos, can be solved. "There we are moving forward quite substantively and I hope that we can also have it in time and that is what we are going to be doing in the next two months"
In this way, for the moment the possibility of the other option that was on the table is receding, such as a partial payment of the 10,000 million due to the lack of compliance with some of the milestones, an alternative that has been discussed in recent days. . “At this time, there is no decision on a partial payment. Spain is working on alternative measures,” said the European Commissioner for the Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, in a joint appearance with Corpus this afternoon in Madrid.
If this partial payment were reached, Brussels would have to decide what amount would be subtracted from the total of 10,000 million and would do so based on the number of unfulfilled milestones and also the importance given to those left behind. However, for now, this option is put on hold and Spain has two extra months to finish its duties. The postponement is not exceptional either, it has already been carried out with Germany and Italy.
This period will also be used to technically adapt the supervision of some milestones, that is, to simplify procedures that in some cases are proving to be too cumbersome and not very agile. The European Commission states that these are strictly technical changes and that in no case can they affect the essence of the fulfillment of the objective.
Spain has yet to transmit its proposal for these technical changes to Brussels, but Minister Body has already provided an example. As in investments in transport networks, the total number of contracts awarded can be used instead of, as until now, the millions of euros awarded.
In the longer term, what the European Commission does highlight is that August 2026 is a deadline for the disbursement of European funds, and that those who are not disbursed on that date will be lost. The regulations specify this very clearly and any change would require unanimity from all member states, and in some cases, ratification by their parliaments. Something that seems unfeasible.
In this sense and with this limit in sight, Gentiloni has stressed that the application of the recovery plan in Spain is going well, but that the most difficult thing is what is coming now. “It is important to know that taking into account the completion deadline of 2026, which is a definitive deadline, the second part of the Plan is going to be more complicated than the first,” he stated, in a reference to both Spain and the rest of the countries. .
