The Government approves the formal submission to Brussels of the plan to use the structural funds in coming years

Oct. 11 () –

The Government has approved this Tuesday in the Council of Ministers the formal sending of the Association Agreement of Spain 2021-2027 to the European Commission, which includes the plan to use the structural funds and which represents a total investment of 59,772 million euros, for the that it will receive aid from the European Union of 36,682 million euros

The Council of Ministers has learned today of the report presented by the Ministry of Finance and Public Administration on the Association Agreement of Spain 2021-2027, before its formal submission to the European Commission with a view to its final approval.

It is a strategic document that includes the main lines of action and investment priorities of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture (FEMPA) and the Just Transition Fund (FTJ).

As a whole, the Association Agreement represents a total investment of 59,772 million euros, for which there will be EU aid of 36,682 million euros, not including the 683 million from the European Territorial Cooperation funds. The sum of the funds included in the Agreement represents an increase of 15% compared to those obtained in the 2014-2020 period.

DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS

Specifically, for the ERDF funds, a total investment of 35,009 million is estimated (23,397 million EU contribution and 11,612 national contribution); for the ESF+, 21,885 million (11,296 million EU and 10,589 million national); for Fempa 1,573 million (1,120 million EU and 452 million national) and for FTJ, 1,255 million (869 million EU and 387 million national).

Thus, the ERDF will have a total allocation of 23,397 million euros distributed in 19 regional programs and a multi-regional programme, while the ESF will have 11,296 million euros, distributed in 19 regional programs and 4 multi-regional programmes: Multi-regional Employment Program, Vocational Training and Education of Spain; Multiregional Youth Employment Program; Pluriregional Program for Inclusion and Fight against Poverty and Child Poverty, and the Pluriregional Program for Material Deprivation.

For its part, the FEMPA, with 1,120 million, and the FTJ, with 869 million, will have a single multi-regional program each.

SUPPORT FOR RESEARCH, DIGITALIZATION AND SMEs, AMONG OTHERS

This investment is organized around five major policy areas, in which support for research, digitization, support for SMEs, energy efficiency, the green transition and investment of a social nature are particularly relevant.

Specifically, Spain will have 8,300 million euros in European aid to reinforce research, support companies and favor digitalisation, while it will allocate more than 9,500 million euros to improving energy efficiency, the deployment of renewable energies, actions adaptation to climate change, the implementation of a circular economy model and attention to biodiversity.

On its side, an endowment of 1,200 million is concentrated on the development of rail corridors, guaranteeing rail accessibility to ports of general interest and supporting the use of clean vehicles and improving the public transport service.

Another objective is social investment, which is particularly relevant in the current period, with attention to employment, education, professional training, inclusion and the fight against poverty and child poverty. This translates into 12,300 million euros of aid allocated to social cohesion.

Lastly, European funding for urban and non-urban development actions, through the design of integrated investment programmes, stands at over 2,100 million.

NEXT STEPS

As detailed by the Ministry of Finance in a statement, immediately after the Association Agreement is sent to the European Commission, the regional and multi-regional programs of these funds will be sent, in which the specific actions to be carried out by all the Spanish public administrations will be reflected. , with a view to approval before the end of 2022.

The execution of the funds that make up this new Multiannual Financial Framework will be carried out until December 2029.