Malta receives €48.7 million EU payment to boost transport, healthcare, schools
The third installment under the Recovery and Resilience Facility follow key milestones
The European Commission on Friday announced the disbursement of €48.7 million to Malta under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the centrepiece of the NextGenerationEU programme.
In total, the Commission disbursed €42.8 billion to five Member States, Italy Portugal, Cyprus, Spain and Malta, as part of its efforts to support the economic growth and resilience of EU member states.
Malta’s disbursement represents the third payment under the RRF and was made after the successful completion of 11 milestones and 13 targets related to 15 reforms and 9 investments, a Commission statement said.
These milestones include measures to increase access to free public transport and promoting sustainable mobility by signing contracts for the procurement of electric vehicles for use in the public sector.
They will also cover the upgrade of education infrastructure with the renovation of public schools, enhancing healthcare services by purchasing additional medical equipment and setting up a neonatal hearing screening programme to detect and address possible hearing issues in newborns.
Funds will also be used to modernise the justice system with the purchase of new digital equipment and strengthen Malta’s anti-money laundering framework.
So far Malta has received a total of €215 million, representing 66% of its total allocation under the recovery and resilience plan, which amounts to €328 million.
Commenting on the disbursement, the minister for European funds Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi stressed the importance of ensuring that investments continue in the coming months so that all funds allocated to Malta are fully utilised.