The European Commission has endorsed a positive preliminary assessment of Malta's payment request for €52.3 million, with the country expected to receive the funds by March.
Malta’s recovery and resilience plan is set to receive a total of €258.3 million as part of the NextGenerationEU initiative to be used in a raft of reform and investment initiatives.
Malta received a first deposit of €41 million as part of the post-COVID-19 recovery initiatives in December 2021.
Malta submitted the payment request on December 19 of last year based on achieving 16 milestones, three targets, 15 reforms and two investments.
The measures Malta undertook during this time include the entry into force of the building and construction authority act, updating the environment protection act - which included an import ban on single-use plastics, setting up two autism units in middle schools, digitisation works in the law courts, including introducing the facility of being able to attend court sittings via video conferencing, reforming the method of appointing the judiciary and the commissioner of police, creating a separate prosecution service and reforming the asset recovery bureau, among others.
Following an opinion issued by the European Commission’s Economic and Financial Committee, the EC will adopt the final decisions to disburse the funds following an examination procedure through a comitology committee.
Payments under the grant scheme are performance-based and depend on member states implementing the investments and reforms set out in the recovery and resilience plans.
In a statement, the EC said that the milestones and targets fulfilled by Malta demonstrate significant progress made in the implementation of the recovery and resilience plan.
“With their request, the Maltese authorities provided detailed and comprehensive evidence demonstrating the fulfilment of the 16 milestones and three targets. The Commission has thoroughly assessed this information before presenting its positive preliminary assessment of the payment request,” the Commission said.
“They include important measures such as the adoption of a strategy to reduce waste through recycling in the construction sector, the establishment of office facilities to enable civil servants to work remotely across the country, reforms to boost industrial research and investments, a national anti-fraud and corruption strategy and reforms to digitalise the justice system.”
European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said that it was “good news” for Malta after a successful first set of reforms and investments.
“Once Member States give their greenlight, Malta will receive over €50 million as a result of its good progress on its national recovery and resilience plan, which is worth nearly €260 million,” she said.
“Malta has been working, for example, on strengthening the fight against corruption and increasing the independence of the judiciary. Malta has also stepped up mapping investments in industrial innovation and improved waste management, to the benefit of the circular economy. Finally, we welcome the important measures to make school buildings more energy-efficient.” “Keep up the good work, Malta! The Commission stands by your side, on your way to recovery.”
Malta was initially set to receive some €316 million in funding from the grant scheme, however, the full amount was later revised downwards by around €60 million after achieving better-than-expected economic growth following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The full amount of the funds allocated to Malta is set to be paid out in six separate instalments at Malta's own request.
The Commission has to date received 27 payment requests, with 15 having already been disbursed.