On Tuesday 30 April, Germany submitted a request to the Commission to add a €2.3 billion REPowerEU chapter to its recovery and resilience plan, while also proposing to modify certain existing measures.

The REPowerEU chapter consists of two new reforms, as well as two new and one scaled up investment. It will deliver on the REPowerEU Plan’s objectives to make Europe independent of Russian fossil fuels well before 2030. The reforms aim to accelerate permitting for on-and-offshore wind energy deployment. The investments support renovations to improve energy efficiency of residential buildings, the purchase of zero-emission transport vehicles and associated refuelling and charging infrastructure as well as the rollout of hydrogen infrastructure through a digital platform.

Germany has requested to transfer part of its share of the Brexit Adjustment Reserve, amounting to €220 million, to its recovery and resilience plan. Together with Germany’s REPowerEU grants allocation (€2.1 billion), these funds would make its overall recovery and resilience plan worth €30.3 billion in grants under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).

To date, Germany has received €6.25 billion in RRF grants, including pre-financing, amounting to 21% of its total grant allocation.

Germany also requested to modify certain milestones and targets of its recovery and resilience plan. The proposed changes are linked to objective circumstances that impact the feasibility of carrying out the relevant measures as originally foreseen.

The Commission has now up to two months to assess whether the modified plan still fulfils the assessment criteria in the RRF Regulation. If the Commission’s assessment is positive, it will make a proposal for an amended Council Implementing Decision to reflect the changes to the German plan. Member States will then have up to four weeks to endorse the Commission’s assessment.