Virginia Barcones stresses the importance of co-governance to make the most of the funds of the Recovery Plan

• The delegate of the Government in Castilla y León participates in the inauguration of the conference ‘Europe invests in my region’ held in the Chamber of Commerce of Valladolid and organized by the Office of the European Parliament in Spain • The objective of the conference is to discuss the financing possibilities offered by the funds of the Recovery Plan as well as exchange impressions with authorities, business representatives and social agents • The Government of Spain has distributed and executed directly in Castilla y León 1.7 billion euros of the PRTR funds that have been used to develop 21,000 / projects • In addition, it has transferred to the JCs

June 16, 2023.- The delegate of the Government in Castilla y León, Virginia Barcones, participated this morning in the inauguration of the day 'Europe invests in my region', an act in which she has highlighted the importance of co-governance to get the most out of the Next Generation funds of the European Union. The objective of the colloquiums, organized by the Office of the European Parliament in Spain and held at the Chamber of Commerce of Valladolid, is to discuss and exchange views on the financing possibilities offered by these funds.

Virginia Barcones has pointed out that the Covid 19 pandemic caused in Europe the worst recession since World War II. He added that to boost the recovery the European Union launched its own “Marshall Plan. Next Generation funds, the largest stimulus package ever funded by the European Union.” A plan whose objective is none other than to build the pillars of 21st century Europe based on “ecological transition, digitalisation and resilience”.

In this sense, he explained that institutions, economic, cultural and social sectors in Spain in general and Castilla y León in particular cannot miss “this opportunity. All sectors of our society must have an answer to what, how, when, where and why. What are the funds, how to apply for them, until when to apply for them, where to apply for them and why can I apply for them?” Hence the importance of the days held in Valladolid.

In total, the Recovery Plan can mobilize in our country 160 billion euros in the period 2021-2026, more than 12% of the GDP of Spain, which will join the 36.7 billion euros of the Structural Funds of the multiannual financial framework 2021-2027.

90% of the aid is managed through the Mechanism for Recovery and Resilience (MRR), a mechanism that is endowed with 672.5 billion of which 312.5 billion are grants and 360 billion are loans. Through this mechanism, Spain will access a total of 140 billion euros until 2026. In addition to the MRR fund, there is the OBJECTIVE-EU fund, endowed with 50 billion euros, which is executed with more flexibility and agility and prioritizes the ecological, digital and resilient recovery of the economy.

The MRR has four main objectives: to promote the economic, social and territorial cohesion of the EU; to strengthen the resilience and adjustment capacity of Member States; to mitigate the social and economic repercussions of the COVID-19 crisis; and to support ecological and digital transitions. Each country must design a plan. The Spanish is the Resilience Recovery Plan.

In this sense, the first phase of this Recovery and Resilience Plan is fulfilled in 2023. So far, Spain has received 37 billion euros from these funds, all linked to the fulfilment of objectives supervised by Europe. The third disbursement of money was associated with the fulfillment of 24 milestones and five objectives that add a total of 121 milestones and achieved objectives of the 460 marked, equivalent to 30%.

These milestones and objectives aim to achieve greater cohesion of the territory, which is why Virginia Barcones has highlighted the 130 measures included in the Plan of Measures in the face of the Demographic Challenge of the Government. He recalled that this plan aims to reduce “the urban-rural divide”, which exists by promoting corrective measures in “those areas most affected by inequality, the small municipalities, the whole of rural areas”.

The Government delegate recalled that in the first phase of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR) the Government has transferred more than 1.5 billion euros to the Junta de Castilla y León for its management. “It is the sixth autonomous community to which more funds have been transferred from the central executive,” he said. To that amount must be added the 416 million allocated from the OBJECTIVE-EU funds.

In addition, the Government of Spain has distributed and executed directly in Castilla y León 1,704 million euros of the PRTR funds that have been used to develop 21,009 actions/projects. In the province of Valladolid they have been 341 M€ for 4,725 projects.

For this transfer of funds, Virginia Barcones has recalled the importance of co-governance. “If we want to succeed, if we want to make the most of this historic opportunity, that Spain in general and that Castilla y León in particular, do not lag behind, it is necessary to shoulder it like never before. More than ever, collaboration between institutions, economic and social actors is necessary to face the challenge posed by this opportunity,” he stressed. Hence the importance of the talks organized by the Office of the European Parliament in Spain.

The government delegate concluded by pointing out that, in her opinion, Spain is doing things well. To this end, it has relied on the latest unemployment data, 2.8 million unemployed, a figure that “returns us to the boom scenario prior to the financial crisis of 2008”. He also highlighted the improvement in the growth forecasts for Spain recently made by the OECD, EUROSTAT, IMF and ECB.

The seminar ‘Europe invests in my region’ has scheduled three colloquiums entitled ‘Next Generation EU: possibilities and challenges’, ‘Practical workshop: possibilities offered by European funding’ and ‘Presentation of pioneering Next Generation projects in Castilla y León’.