Commission gives green light to €3.26 billion payment for France under NextGenerationEU

The Commission issued a positive preliminary assessment of France’s payment request for €3.26 billion under NextGenerationEU, the centerpiece of Europe’s recovery efforts to build a greener, more digital, and more competitive Union. This amount represents the fourth installment in France’s recovery and resilience plan.

The Commission’s preliminary assessment finds that France has fulfilled the milestones and targets required for this payment, financed under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the key instrument of NextGenerationEU.

It follows the implementation of eleven investments in several areas including investments in enhancing energy efficiency in public buildings, advancing sustainable transport infrastructure to improve daily mobility, the digitalization of businesses, cultural sectors, schools, and the health sector; and two reforms to tackle greenhouse gas emissions in cities, and to improve the quality assessment of public spending.

Flagship measures in this payment request include:

• Expanding digital training access for higher education: More than 1 700 000 students enrolled in higher education in France have access to digital training capacities.
• Enhancing energy efficiency in public buildings: This investment is enhancing the energy performance of public buildings, with the renovation of an additional 8.75 million square meters in public buildings for enhanced energy efficiency, and the completion of energy renovation works for more than 680 schools.