Finland: Commission publishes positive assessment of Finland’s Recovery and Resilience Plan

NordenBladet — On Monday 4 October, Prime Minister Sanna Marin and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen met in Helsinki to discuss topical EU matters. After their bilateral meeting, Marin and von der Leyen visited the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, where they learned about a project related to the priorities of Finland’s Recovery and Resilience Plan. In connection with the visit, the Commission published a positive assessment of Finland’s plan.

In their bilateral meeting, Prime Minister Marin and President von der Leyen discussed the forest strategy published by the Commission last summer and the climate package aiming for emission reductions, along with the topics of the meetings on 5 and 6 October in Slovenia and the October European Council. In connection with President von der Leyen’s visit to Finland, the European Commission published a positive assessment of Finland’s Recovery and Resilience Plan. At the same time, the Commission issued a proposal for a Council Implementing Decision that includes milestones and targets for Finland’s plan.

“Finland’s Recovery and Resilience Plan responds to Finland’s structural challenges and promotes sustainable growth through investments in the green transition and the digital transformation. The plan still needs to be approved by the Council of the EU. After this, we will move on to the important stage of implementation, which will make the benefits of the plan available to citizens and businesses. The Recovery and Resilience Plan is part of the Sustainable Growth Programme for Finland,” said Minister of Finance Annika Saarikko.

The Council of the European Union will decide on approving Finland’s plan in about four weeks’ time. After that, Finland will receive 13 per cent of the EU funding reserved for the plan as an advance payment. All EU countries are required to present a national Recovery and Resilience Plan if they are to receive funding from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility. Finland submitted its Recovery and Resilience Plan to the EU on 27 May.

Prime Minister Marin and Commission President von der Leyen visited VTT to learn about quantum computing, which is included in two investment priorities of Finland’s Recovery and Resilience Plan:digitalisation: investing in accelerating key technologies (microelectronics, 6G networks, artificial intelligence and quantum computing)employment and skills: investing in research, development and innovation activities, research infrastructure and piloting.

The calls for funding applications in these investment areas are not open yet, so it is not yet known whether VTT will receive recovery funding.