The RRF funds received by France will be use for undertaking green transition, digital transition and for reinforcing economic and social resilience.
The European Commission has disbursed € 5.1 billion to France in pre-financing under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) to help France commence investments and reforms that will help its economy revive from the financial impacts of Coronavirus (COVID-19).
The disbursed amount is 13% of the total aid of € 39.4 billion which France will receive over the lifetime of the plan. The funds will be use for undertaking green transition, digital transition and for reinforcing economic and social resilience.
As far as green transition is concerned, France will invest € 5.8 billion renovation of buildings including financing a large-scale renovation programme to increase the energy efficiency of buildings. It will spend € 4.4 billion to improve the rail network and increasing the use of railway as an alternative to road transport. Another €1.9 billion will be spent for development of value chains for decarbonised hydrogen. It will also work towards a Climate and Resilience Law to contribute to the greenhouse gas emissions reduction target for 2030.
Taking it to twitter, the President of European Commission – Ursula von der Leyen tweeted,
This first disbursement makes the support via #NextGenerationEU concrete in France.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) August 19, 2021
With its recovery and resilience plan, 🇫🇷 invests in the economy of tomorrow, focussing on the green & digital transitions, on competitiveness and on social and territorial cohesion. pic.twitter.com/LMEH68Hq2s
The President of France – Emmanuel Macron tweeted (translated in English), “Today, we receive the first European contribution to France’s recovery plan, with 5.1 billion euros. This is European solidarity in action for the recovery and transformation of our economies. Original tweet in French:
Aujourd'hui, nous recevons la première contribution européenne au plan de relance de la France, avec 5,1 milliards d'euros. Voilà la solidarité européenne en action pour la reprise et la transformation de nos économies. https://t.co/NgUkw34ckg
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) August 19, 2021
France will spend 21% of its total allocation for reforms and investments that support the digital objectives. Of this, € 385 million will go towards digitalisation of companies, € 131 million will go towards digitalisation of schools for providing digital equipment to elementary and secondary schools. Another € 500 million would go towards digitalisation of public administration.
Under measures for reinforcing economic and social resilience, France will spend € 240 million for accelerating the deployment of Next Generation Access networks, in particular in optic fibres, especially in rural areas. It will also modernisation the health system by renovating hospitals and healthcare facilities, building outpatient facilities, and modernising medical infrastructure and equipment with a fund of € 2.5 billion.
Another € 2.5 billion will be spent on reskilling and upskilling the labour force, investment in lifelong training, including through distance learning tools. € 4.6 billion will be used for providing jobs and training to young people. France will also undertake measures like improving the quality of public finances and strengthening overall expenditure control, cost efficiency and adequate budgeting.
