Czech Republic to receive nearly 20 billion euros under EU post-coronavirus recovery plan

The Czech Republic is slated to receive a sum of 19.2 billion euros, or around 550 billion crowns, from an extraordinary relief fund currently being prepared by the European Commission to help EU member states recover from the coronavirus crisis, according to EC documents made public today.

Under the preliminary plan, the fund would be split between both grants and loans which would need to be repaid. The Czech Republic would receive 8.6 billion euros in direct EU funds, and the remaining 10.6 billion euros through advantageous interest-bearing loans.

A total sum of 750 billion euros is slated to be distributed across EU member states, with those hit hardest by the coronavirus crisis to receive the largest amounts.

European Commissioner for the Economy Paolo Gentiloni announced plans for the 750 billion euro recovery fund through a tweet yesterday.

Spain and Italy alone are forecast to receive about 313 billion euros, more than one-third of the total amount of the EC’s coronavirus recovery plan.

At 63 billion euros, Poland would be the third biggest recipient, while other Visegrad 4 member states Hungary and Slovakia would receive 15 and 13 billion euros, respectively.

Germany and France, who have provided the fundamental support for the EC’s recovery plan, 29 and 39 billion euros, respectively.

“500 billion in grants and 250 billion in loans are an adequate figure,” responded Italian Prime Minister Guiseppe Conte.

“Now let’s speed up the negotiation and free up the resources soon.”

Negotiations are expected to be long, with some leaders, including Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, critical of accruing joint debt across the EU member states.

The plan must be unanimously approved in order for EU states to use the funds.