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Finland's parliament green-lights EU recovery fund

Europe Materials 19 May 2021 03:50 (UTC +04:00)
Finland's parliament green-lights EU recovery fund

Finland's parliament on Tuesday green-lighted the European Union's (EU) 750-billion-euro (915-billion-U.S.-dollar) recovery package, aimed at addressing the economic and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Trend reports citing Xinhua.

In Tuesday's vote, 134 members of the parliament (MP) backed the package, while 57 voted against and two voted blank. Six MPs were not present.

According to local media reports, Finland is estimated to receive about 3 billion euros from the package.

The Finnish government published a preliminary plan for using its share of the fund in March. Under the plan, Finland would use half of its share for climate projects and a fourth for digitalization.

In late April, the parliament's Constitutional Law Committee concluded that the EU's recovery fund must be backed by a two-thirds majority in the parliament rather than a simple majority.

The decision caused concern about the fate of the recovery fund because the parties in the Finnish coalition government would secure a simple majority, but the two-thirds majority would require backings from the oppositions, which were averse to the fund.

In the vote, the majority of the opposition conservative National Coalition MPs switched over to the government side. (1 euro = 1.22 U.S. dollars)

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