Today, at the press conference for the launch of the 19^th European Week of Regions and Cities 2021, the Commission declared that already €34 billion have been approved for regions and cities during the past four months.

With €34.1 billion approved and €3.5 billion already paid out in just four months, REACT-EU is the very first instrument of NextGenerationEU to make payments for the recovery of Member States. In just 4 months, 86% of the available REACT-EU resources for this year have been approved. €21.7 billion are mobilised through the European Regional Development Fund, €12 billion through the European Social Fund and €410m through the Fund for European Aid to the most Deprived.

REACT-EU is part of the NextGenerationEU recorvery instrument and provides €50.6 billion additional funding (in current prices) over the course of 2021 and 2022 to Cohesion policy programmes. Measures focus on supporting labour market resilience, jobs, SMEs and low-income families, as well as setting future-proof foundations for the green and digital transitions and a sustainable socio-economic recovery.

EU Cohesion policy on the front line of the recovery: €34 billion approved for regions and cities in just 4 months