Last week, Latvia was the first Baltic State to begin discussions with the European Commission (EC) on the submitted draft Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) plan. Themed discussions concerning two directions of the RRF plan have currently taken place. This week, the discussions will continue.
In the field of health, the RRF plan provides for the strengthening of the resilience of the health system and the access to quality healthcare services. The plan includes measures that would strengthen the resilience and availability of the health sector in the long term by developing the infrastructure necessary for integrated healthcare services, ensuring the ability of medical institutions to adapt to crisis situations, as well as by developing improved service provision models, inter alia, improving further education for medical practitioners and establishing uniform principles in the field of oncology. During the discussions, the EC stated that more emphasis needs to be put on the planned reforms, and thus discussions on the required corrections will continue, improving the measures planned in the health sector.
Whereas in the area of reducing inequality, the RRF plan provides for reducing the territorial and social inequality in society and improving the living conditions in the regions. It is going to be achieved by improving the availability of social services and employment in the regions, by promoting high-quality general secondary education in the territories of local governments, facilitating housing availability, supporting the development of the public infrastructure of entrepreneurship, as well as ensuring adequate and accessible road infrastructure in order to fully achieve the goals of the administrative territorial reform. During these discussions the EC continued to emphasise the necessity to suggest clearer reforms which correspond to the identified challenges. Moreover, the EC encouraged Latvia to propose clearer indicators for the measurement of the reform progress, which would better reflect quality proposals of sectoral policy makers for solving the challenges discussed.
The RRF (Recovery and Resilience Facility) is a new budget programme under the centralised management of the EC, established in addition to the EU multiannual budget for the programming period of 2021 - 2027. The purpose of the facility is to support reforms, the need whereof has been specified in the European Semester Country Specific Recommendations, as well as investments, specifically those related to the transition to a green and digital economy, as well as to reduce the social and economic impact caused by the crisis. Latvia was the first Baltic State to begin discussions with the EC regarding the submitted draft Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) plan. Overall, six themed discussions are planned concerning each direction of the plan, as well as several high level discussions to talk about the reforms and objectives provided for in the RRF plan for Latvia.
Implementation conditions for specific RRF investment projects will be developed after specific planned investment measures are approved by the Cabinet. In accordance with the conditions of the RRF Regulation, the final version of the RRF plan is to be submitted for approval to the EC and the EU Council by 30 April 2021, at the latest. The RRF funds might be available for Latvia in the second half of this year.
The work on the introduction of the RRF is being organised in six directions - climate change and sustainability, digital transformation, transformation of economy and productivity reform, health, reducing inequality and the rule of law. Following the EC recommendations, 20% of the RRF funds are planned to be allocated to digitisation and 37% - for achieving climate objectives. It is planned to allocate EUR 330 million (20% of the RRF funds) for reducing inequality, EUR 181.5 million (11%) – to the health sector projects, EUR 165 million (10%) – to transformation of economy and productivity reforms, and EUR 33 million (2%) – for strengthening the rule of law.
The draft RRF plan is available for review to anyone interested on the MoF website and the EU fund website. Comments and proposals regarding the draft RRF plan and appendices thereto can be submitted in an electronic form by March 9 this year to the email address: rrf@fm.gov.lv.
