Latvian society has recently been somewhat confused by the information circulating in the public domain regarding billions of euros, and now there are even more billions being allocated to Latvia from the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). It feels almost like a gift – money that does not need to be repaid, so one might think that there is so much money that we will not know what to do with it.

At the same time, people and businesses feel that there is a lack of money, leading to the question: what benefit will we see from these European billions? What gains will there be this year, what about in the future, and will the state be able to spend this money wisely? I will try to answer these questions in this article, avoiding overly bureaucratic explanations.

What are we entitled to?

As one of the shadow rapporteurs in the European Parliament (EP) during the creation of this vital EU economic recovery regulation, I believe it is essential to reiterate the need to maintain the right focus and not get lost in the myths that have circulated around the RRF since the beginning of summer, largely due to the secrecy of the Ministry of Finance. So, once again – what does the Recovery and Resilience Facility provide for Latvia?

Latvia will be allocated approximately two billion euros in non-repayable grants, and we will be able to borrow roughly the same amount on favourable terms. Planned expenditure must be consolidated into the member state's national plan, which, in turn, must be aligned with the European Commission (EC) and comply with the basic rules of the RRF regulation.