EU approves French Covid recovery plan: chief

The European Commission approved a French plan to spend part of the bloc’s coronavirus rescue fund, which will see the release of 40 billion euros ($48 billion) over the next five years, its chief said Wednesday.

“The French plan will help France to maintain its autonomy and leadership by investing in innovation and new technologies, while keeping the need for cohesion, inclusion and justice at its heart,” commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said in Paris.

“I am happy to announce our full support,” von der Leyen told French President Emmanuel Macron as she handed over a large yellow and purple folder containing the commission’s assessment at the Elysee palace.

EU member states have had to submit plans for spending their share of the landmark 750-billion-euro ($910-billion) recovery plan, known as Next Generation EU, which was drawn up nearly a year ago.

Von der Leyen has begun a tour of European capitals to announce the commission’s decisions, with Spain and Portugal the first to receive the green light last week.

Macron used the opportunity to stress how the EU had taken “steps that were considered unthinkable even a year ago” by authorising the commission to raise money by issuing bonds on behalf of the entire 27-member bloc.

He also praised its policy of centralising the purchase of Covid-19 vaccines, which was much criticised at the start of the year for lagging behind programmes in Britain and the United States.

“Europe is succeeding with its vaccination programme,” he said, adding: “Europe is emerging stronger from the pandemic.”