European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (C-R) and Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic (C-L) visit the quake-damaged Zagreb Cathedral in Zagreb, Croatia, on July 8, 2021. Ursula von der Leyen said here on Thursday that her institution had approved Croatia's recovery and resilience plan. (Sanjin Strukic/Pixsell via Xinhua)
ZAGREB, July 8 (Xinhua) -- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said here on Thursday that her institution had approved Croatia's recovery and resilience plan.
"This is a great plan, which has the largest share of GDP (gross domestic product) compared to all other EU member states and is very ambitious," she said while attending a session of the Croatian government.
The plan balances investment and reforms in the economy, administration and health care. Von der Leyen especially praised Croatia for earmarking 20 percent of the funds to digitalization.
"What is good in your plan is e-health and public administration reform, both of which will serve the citizens," she added.
Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic thanked the Commission for its solidarity in repairing the damage caused by earthquakes that hit the country in 2020.
"We will try to use the planned funds in the best way, and 12 percent of the money will be used for the renovation of buildings," Plenkovic said.
The EU's Recovery and Resilience Mechanism envisions 6.3 billion euros (7.4 billion U.S. dollars) in grants and 3.6 billion euros in loans for Croatia.
By the end of July, Croatia's plan should be adopted by the Council of the European Union, after which the implementation of numerous projects will begin. (1 euro = 1.18 U.S. dollar) Enditem
