The European Commission has disbursed €3.07 billion to Austria, Croatia and Belgium under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the central pillar of the EU’s post-pandemic NextGenerationEU programme.
In a separate announcement, the Commission confirmed a €545 million package to expand renewable energy projects across Africa as part of its “Scaling up Renewables in Africa” campaign. According to the Commission, Austria has received €1.62 billion, Croatia €835.6 million and Belgium €614 million. National authorities will use the funds to finance reforms and investments set out in their approved recovery and resilience plans, which target climate and digital objectives alongside structural measures.
Reported national allocations indicate that Austria’s tranche will support sustainable mobility, carbon taxation implementation, health investment and pension reform; Croatia’s will finance anti-corruption measures, hydrogen development, water management and health; while Belgium’s payment contributes to the country’s wider RRF plan.
The RRF is the core instrument of NextGenerationEU, the EU’s temporary recovery vehicle. The programme allows the Union to raise up to around €800 billion in current prices until 2026, channelled through grants and loans to member states meeting agreed milestones and targets. Disbursements are made following Commission assessments of progress against each national plan. The Commission characterises the RRF as designed to make European economies and societies more sustainable, resilient and better prepared for the green and digital transitions.
The three-country payout comes amid a broader cycle of RRF payments in 2025 as governments seek to complete reforms before the facility’s end-2026 deadline for commitments. Previous Commission communications have underlined an emphasis on energy transition measures, digital infrastructure, skills and productivity-enhancing reforms, with money released when states achieve predefined benchmarks.
Separately, the Commission set out a €545 million package to accelerate clean-energy deployment in Africa. The funding, provided by “Team Europe” (the EU, member states and participating financial institutions), is intended to scale up electrification, modernise grids and improve access to renewables, with projects spanning countries from Côte d’Ivoire and Lesotho to Somalia and Madagascar. The package expands a year-long pledging campaign launched with South Africa and Global Citizen, aligned with the World Bank and African Development Bank’s “Mission 300” initiative to provide electricity access to 300 million Africans by 2030.
The Commission frames the Africa package within the Global Gateway investment strategy, which aims to mobilise public and private capital for infrastructure and energy transition projects. The “Scaling up Renewables in Africa” campaign was launched on the eve of the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro in November 2024 and is due to conclude around the G20 summit in Cape Town in November 2025. The Commission cites the continent’s significant solar potential and the continuing electricity access gap—around 600 million people without power—as the rationale for targeted support to renewables and grid connections.
The two announcements highlight the dual track of EU financing in 2025: internal recovery funding tied to delivery of reforms at home, and external climate-energy partnerships abroad. Within the Union, RRF disbursements are contingent on verified milestones, creating a pipeline of payments as member states move through their plans. Externally, the Commission is using grant finance and blended instruments to attract additional investment into African energy systems, with stated objectives of powering public services and supporting job creation.
NextGenerationEU funding continues to be raised on capital markets via a diversified funding strategy, with proceeds allocated to RRF disbursements as milestones are met. The Commission’s guidance reiterates that the facility’s support remains available until end-2026 for commitments, after which implementation will continue within agreed timelines. The latest three-country payout adds to earlier 2025 tranches made to other member states as part of the ongoing schedule of payments.
For Austria, Croatia and Belgium, the current disbursements represent additional fiscal space to deliver reforms and investments already negotiated with the Commission. For African partner countries, the €545 million package forms part of a wider set of Global Gateway initiatives focused on renewables generation, transmission and distribution, including inter-connectors to strengthen regional power pools and projects aimed at improving electricity access in rural areas.
Notes: Commission figures for the RRF disbursement total €3.07 billion: Austria (€1.62bn), Croatia (€835.6m) and Belgium (€614m). The renewables package totals €545m and is framed as a late-September 2025 announcement under the Scaling up Renewables in Africa campaign.
