In the final stretch of the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (RRM), the cornerstone of the Next Generation European funds created to overcome the consequences of the 2020 pandemic, Catalonia leads the distribution of these resources, with a total of 3,700 million euros and a "cross-cutting" sectoral dominance, according to a study by EsadeEcPol. From the start of this program until today and four months before the end of the program (it ends in August), projects have been launched in Spain for 90,718 million and a total of 63,403 million have been awarded.

Pedro Sánchez announced exactly one month ago the creation of a sovereign wealth fund endowed with 10.5 billion euros originating from loans from the European funds of the Spanish Recovery Plan. This starting point is supplemented by an additional 2.8 billion euros, also from this windfall, but derived from unspent transfers. This Monday saw the official launch of this new investment tool, and the Spanish Prime Minister stated that it will serve, among other things, to build 15,000 affordable and social rental homes per year. But how will this be achieved? These are the key elements of the tool designed to make it possible.

After being launched more than five years ago, the European anti-pandemic funds are reaching their end, and consequently, so are the recovery plans that each member state had to develop. This August 2026 is the deadline for the various governments to fulfill their commitments to the European Commission. In fact, the Spanish government's request for the final disbursements of this European windfall will depend on this. But let's take it step by step. What are we talking about when we refer to successfully completing the race surrounding this exceptional mechanism approved in response to Covid-19?

The countdown to receive the final European anti-pandemic funds, or Next Generation EU funds, in the form of direct transfers has begun. The Spanish government has just approved an amendment to the Recovery Plan—a new addendum—to receive the final €25 billion in grants between now and December 2026. This money is part of the €79.854 billion in transfers linked to the Spanish plan, which, in principle, must be implemented before 2026. After negotiations with the European Commission, the Spanish government will not only be able to slightly extend this timeframe but has also modified the list of milestones and reforms that must be completed to receive these funds. The Ministry of Economy is still finalizing the document with Brussels and expects to have it definitively finalized before the end of the year, probably next week, according to sources at the Ministry. Specifically, 160 measures have been modified, and 230 milestones and reforms remain pending before the final European funds can be received, whether as a direct transfer or a loan.

The start-up The plant-based protein company Heura has closed a €20 million loan with the European Investment Bank (EIB) that should allow the Catalan company to maintain growth and achieve operational profitability by the end of this year, as jointly announced on Monday by Marc Coloma, CEO and co-founder of Heura, and Aless'androequity, growth and project finance from the EIB.

The European Next Generation funds, created to combat the covid crisis and promote a change in the productive model, could contribute five percentage points to Catalan GDP between 2021 and 2026, and create 60,000 jobs between this year and 2024. This is the conclusion of a study prepared by the Generalitat's Finance Department and the University of Barcelona.

The war in Ukraine has blown up the economic forecasts of the Independent Authority for Fiscal Responsibility (Airef) for 2022. Its president, Cristina Herrero, said the scenarios through which the Airef had calculated that the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan could have an impact of 2.5 points on the GDP, in parallel to the estimates that the Spanish government had made, "are not fulfilled". "We counted on a favourable international context, low interest rates and lower inflation. These are conditions that are not present now," said Herrero on Tuesday. And she reiterated that "the positive impact of the plan will be revised downwards".

The Generalitat de Catalunya will soon receive €893.3m from NextGeneration EU, the European Union's €750bn programme aimed at promoting the recovery of the bloc's economy after the pandemic. Thus, 13 months after the approval of the funds, Brussels will make the first direct payment to the Government - without going through the State - which will allocate the money to the adaptation and improvement of the health system to cope with covid-19 investments in digital infrastructure and public transport and sustainable mobility, and the conversion and construction of public service buildings, such as schools or hospitals, to make them more efficient, the Catalan Department of Economy has reported.

The numbers of European remittances that are due to arrive in Spain are becoming clearer as the days go by. This Friday, the president of the government, Pedro Sánchez, has confirmed that he will distribute 10,500 million in European funds among the autonomous communities before the end of the year, that is, half of the total 19,034 million that the government plans to receive this 2021, as confirmed by the Moncloa. In fact, this was the commitment that Sánchez made to the conference of presidents in October last year with the regional governments and which he confirmed yesterday, Friday. From this Monday on, the Spanish government will begin to study with the communities how it will distribute this money. A debate that is not easy because it is closely linked to the projects promoted by each community and, therefore, must go hand in hand with the technical criteria agreed by the member states when it comes to funding initiatives.

We have been talking about the European NextGeneration recovery funds for so long that it seems that their final approval is no longer news. But it is. A year and four months after the pandemic forced a halt to economic activity and caused a drop in GDP only comparable to the impact of a war, this Tuesday the EU finance ministers approved the plans presented by Spain and another 11 countries and released the first €9bn of the €140bn included in the rescue plan. It is still a modest first amount, but it represents the starting signal for the most ambitious economic operation in the history of the European Union, for which some taboos have been overcome, such as the fact that it is the European Commission itself which will issue debt to finance the funds.

A new economic, political and social cycle is beginning. The events of recent weeks suggest that things are beginning to change. The climate is one of political détente, of gestures to prepare the ground for dialogue. With the pandemic on its last legs - from the 26th we will be able to take off our face masks outdoors - the time is clearly ripe for an economic upturn. No one expects miracles, but after the coronavirus disaster, three years of turbulence in the streets and instability in the institutions in Barcelona and Madrid, this new beginning is a breath of fresh air. And we must take advantage of it, first of all to relieve people's worries - the social precariousness is worrying - to encourage business activity and to bring the sovereignty conflict back to the political arena.

"Together we are stronger". Pedro Sánchez and Mario Draghi have relaunched relations between Spain and Italy this Friday with the same motto. The two presidents, who met in Barcelona for the conference of the Cercle d'Economia and the Forum of Dialogue between the two countries, have proposed to intensify the "collaboration" both bilaterally and within the framework of the European Union (EU). Sánchez, in fact, has equated the Franco-German axis to the one formed by Spain and Italy. If the alliance between Paris and Berlin is "the lung that breathes air into European progress", he said, the other "can be considered the heart of the European project". And he added that, without going any further, the agreement on the Next Generation European funds "would not be a reality" if it had not been for "the contribution to the debate and the dynamisation" of the Spanish and Italian governments in the most difficult moments as a result of the pandemic. "We are part of the strategy of European funds [...] and we will deepen our relations," agreed Draghi, who received the medal of honour from employers' organization Foment del Treball.

If the financial crisis of some thirteen years ago highlighted Spain's dependence on bricks and mortar, the covid-19 crisis has shown that the only thing that has been done is to change the sector. That is, to become dependent on mass tourism. This is pointed out by the Cercle d'Economia, which in its latest opinion piece criticises that for decades homework is not done. According to the entity, practically the only opportunity to reform the production model now are the European funds, and to take advantage of them requires long-term political consensus, in addition to public-private collaboration and address the debate on the territorial model.

Only three countries in the European Union meet the limit of 3% of public deficit that was planned before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, because all have focused on curbing the impact of the crisis with public aid. Spain, however, already dragged high levels of debt and deficit which have soared even higher, and that is why the European Commission warns that it needs to be "prudent" when it comes to continue spending from 2022 to underpin the recovery. Brussels thus recommends prioritising the use of European funds to avoid the risks associated with an even greater increase in public debt. Spain finished 2020 with a public debt of 120% of its GDP and the highest deficit in the EU (11%).

Will the European funds be the panacea to the economic crisis that some predict or, on the contrary, will they arrive too late? How many will reach the medium and small companies that make up the bulk of the Catalan business fabric and how many will be for large companies? In a debate held this week at the Ateneu Barcelonès and moderated by Antoni Bassas, the ARA brought together five expert voices on the subject: Joaquim Coello, member of Conext CAT-EU -the advisory committee on the funds of the Generalitat-; Ariadna Marín, CEO of the coatings company Coatresa; Jacint Soler, director of external relations of Pimec; Kilian Garcia, director of the international department of Foment del Treball, and Joana Artís, business consultant.

For some time now, all economic sectors have been watching two key words: European funds. Since the European Union gave the green light to the most important economic recovery plan in its history, which will irrigate Spain with 144,000 million euros (72,000 in direct aid), large and small companies, entrepreneurs, employers and trade unions are awaiting how the funds will be distributed. Brussels has established that they have to be spent on two main axes: digitisation and green economy. Therefore, the playing field has been defined. However, from here the unknowns begin to emerge.

Yesterday was Europe Day. A day which, if it is not to end up like so many other "so-and-so Days", appearing on the calendar and that is all, has to serve to stop and reflect on the functioning of the union of 27 states and, rather more importantly, of 447 million people. The dimensions are quite different from those of the European Coal and Steel Community, which 71 years ago yesterday laid the foundations for the EU. But we must not lose the spirit in which that path began: it was not a question of forming a club of friends, but of facing a triple context arising from the Second World War: the economic (reconstruction), the political (to ensure that the Paris-Berlin axis did not break down again) and the social (to undo the suspicions and enmities created by decades of conflict).

The recovery and resilience plan will have funding of €72bn that will be dedicated to priority sectors such as sustainable mobility - to promote the electric car - with €13.2bn; the digitisation of small and medium-sized enterprises (€4.1bn); improving housing (€6,8bn); the public sector, to improve the digitisation of administrations and reduce the rate of temporary employment (€4.3bn); and the promotion of 5G (€4bn), among others. The president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, has advanced some of the investments in a press conference on Tuesday. The approval of the recovery plan in the council of ministers was scheduled for today but the executive has delayed its approval by a few days.

Trying to understand Spain's current political absurdity in its context, the only thing that comes to mind is the often-used saying that a new world is beginning to emerge and the old one is still here. The new world: after the pandemic we will see if what dominates is global interdependence, science, the digital economy, the European Union and international organisations... and new pandemics from which we will continue to learn. The old world: national politics. Spain's, certainly pathetic. In the midst of a huge health and economic crisis, Spanish politicians are engaged in playing cards with no-confidence votes, defectors, early elections, crude persecution of charges, indefinite suspension again of the renewal of the judiciary, demagogy, personalism, ineptitude and general disregard for the interests of society.

Important and difficult days lie ahead. I think it should not take much to agree on two things: that, without sparing any effort to combat the health crisis, we must step up the fight against the economic and social crisis; and that both will require a lot of effort and a lot of economic resources.