European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, announced on Friday that member countries could receive initial disbursements from the new €672.5 billion Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) by mid-2021.

“The moment the Own Resources Decision is ratified, the Commission will go to the market, raise money and disburse. We’re able to disburse 13 percent in front-loading immediately… by mid-year, we should be able to disburse the first funds,” Von der Leyen told a news conference in Brussels.

The Own Resources Decision must be ratified by all member states as a condition for the Commission to borrow money on financial markets. Six countries have done this so far, and Croatia was among the first.

Von der Leyen attended a signing ceremony for the RRF Regulation, which was co-signed by European Parliament President, David Sassoli, and the Portuguese Prime Minister, Antonio Costa, whose country currently holds the EU presidency.

The regulation enters into force on 19 February.

The RRF is the key part of the Next Generation EU program which has a budget of €750 billion. The bulk of it – €672.5 billion – will be paid out through the RRF, including €312.5 billion disbursed as grants and €360 billion in loans.

Croatia will have access to €10.6 billion from the Next Generation EU program, including €5.94 billion in grants and €3.61 billion in loans through the RRF.

Member countries now have until the end of April to prepare their national recovery and resilience plans which the drawing of funds will be based on.