Funcas estimates that in 2022, 43.7% of the allocated EU funds will be allocated and urges to accelerate their execution

It is estimated that the degree of execution is 45.6%, since more than half of those called had not been granted

MADRID, 1 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Savings Bank Foundation (Funcas) estimates that, until the end of 2022, Spain has called for tenders and subsidies for 43.7% of the allocated Next Generation EU (NGEU) funds, which is why it considers that the country will have to accelerate the level of implementation to be able to use the rest of the grant funds before the August 2026 deadline.

This is clear from the latest issue of Cuadernos de Información Económica, a publication edited by Funcas, which warns that a portion of the funds called for have not reached the real economy, and that the amount that has been resolved is lower, especially, in the case of subsidies.

Spain has been allocated 173.67 billion euros through the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (MRR) and Recovery Aid for the Cohesion of the Territories of Europe (REACT-EU funds, created to deal with the pandemic) , of which 89,670 are non-refundable transfers.

Of this last figure, 81,964 were initially allocated and 7,706 subsequently in the Addendum approved in June 2023. If the allocation of the REPowerEU Plan also incorporated in the Addendum (2,600 million) is added to this amount, the total resources to be mobilized is 176,256 million euros, of which 92,256 million are non-refundable and the rest (84,000) are repayable loans.

In the case of tenders, 10,604 have been identified financed with NGEU funds for a total amount of 14,082 million euros. In the case of subsidies, we identified 1,936 aid for a total amount of 21,746 million euros.

In total, the author of the article Joaquín Maudos points out that until the end of 2022, the figure of funds raised via NGEU funds amounts to 35,828 million euros. This amount means that 43.7% of the total funds allocated to Spain on that date have been summoned.

However, the expert warns that a portion of these called funds have not reached the real economy, and that the amount that has been resolved is lower, especially in the case of subsidies.

This is due, according to Maudos, to the fact that there are calls for proposals still being evaluated for the offers presented and others published and within the deadline for submitting offers, so that the amount resolved is 16,349 million euros, which implies an execution percentage of the funds of 45.6%.

If the funds called (35,828 million euros) are compared with those granted up to that date (16,349 million), the degree of execution is 45.6%, since more than half of those called had not been granted.

Of the funds granted, almost three quarters (73.4%) have been destined for the business community, for an amount of 12,001 million euros.

Of the aid to companies, large companies absorb the majority of those granted (59.3% of the total), compared to the 40.7% that has gone to SMEs. By sectors, the most benefited is services (46.9% of the total), closely followed by construction (41.6%).

Within services, the branches that have received the most funds are information and communications (15.4% of the total) and commerce (12.1%). In industry, 3.6% of aid to the automotive sector stands out.