First payment under Recovery and Resilience Plan will be no earlier than the beginning of 2022, Frans Timmermans says
Monday, 18 October 2021
European Commission Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans stated, in an interview for the BNR, that the EC would get to work on Bulgaria’s Recovery and Resilience Plan but declined to say whether it was possible for the first advance payment to be made before the end of the year.
The country is expecting to receive 6.6 billion euro. Frans Timmermans stated that usually the Commission needs at least two months to review and assess the plans, and that it would get to work right away. Asked whether it is realistic tor Bulgaria to close down its coal-fired power stations by 2038-2040, Frans Timmermans stated that what is needed is flexibility, adding that the realization that we must go down that road is “extremely good news”.