EU endorses 3 member states' post-COVID recovery plans

BRUSSELS, June 22 (Xinhua) -- European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen announced EU's endorsement to three member states' post-pandemic recovery plan during her tour in Rome, Berlin and Riga on Tuesday.

European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen (L) symbolically hands to Italy's Prime Minister, Mario Draghi the NextGenerationEU recovery plan during a joint press conference on June 22, 2021. (Photo: AFP)

In Italy, von der Leyen met with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and tweeted that Italy will receive the largest share from the "NextGenerationEU", the bloc's 750-billion-euro (900-billion-U.S. dollar) recovery instrument.

According to the Commission, Italy will receive 191.5 billion euros from EU, including 68.9 billion euros in grants and 122.6 billion euros in loans.

On the same day, von der Leyen said in Berlin, where the German plan's endorsement was announced, that the plan would earmark "substantial means" for the digitalization of the public administration and healthcare sectors in the country.

"We will put our money into hydrogen, microelectronics, cloud and data processing," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Von der Leyen also visited Riga on Tuesday, announcing the endorsement of Latvia's recovery plan.

Last year, EU leaders agreed on the recovery fund to address the economic and social impact of the pandemic. (1 euro = 1.2 U.S. dollars)