European Commission approves Croatia's recovery plan

Zagreb, July 9 (IANS) European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that her institution has approved Croatia's recovery and resilience plan.

"This is a great plan, which has the largest share of GDP (gross domestic product) compared to all other European Union member states and is very ambitious," she said while attending a session of the Croatian government on Thursday.

The plan balances investment and reforms in the economy, administration and health care.

Von der Leyen especially praised Croatia for earmarking 20 per cent of the funds to digitalisation.

"What is good in your plan is e-health and public administration reform, both of which will serve the citizens," she added.

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic thanked the Commission for its solidarity in repairing the damage caused by earthquakes that hit the country in 2020.

"We will try to use the planned funds in the best way, and 12 per cent of the money will be used for the renovation of buildings," Plenkovic said.

The EU's Recovery and Resilience Mechanism envisions 6.3 billion euros ($7.4 billion) in grants and 3.6 billion euros in loans for Croatia.

By the end of July, Croatia's plan should be adopted by the EU Council, after which the implementation of numerous projects will begin.