Ireland to receive over €1 billion in EU Brexit fund
After a provisional agreement set on 17 June, it appears that Ireland is set to receive the largest share of the €5 billion EU Brexit fund.
The agreement on the draft regulation came after a single round of trilogue negotiations between the Council of the EU, the European Parliament, and the European Commission.
The Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR) is a special one-off emergency instrument. It aims to support countries and sectors worst hit by the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU.
The co-legislators agreed that the reserve will cover in full or in part measures introduced by the Member States between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2023.
From the BAR, Ireland will get over €1 billion, shortly followed by the next largest beneficiaries – the Netherlands, France, Germany and Belgium.
To calculate how much money each EU country receives from BAR, three factors were considered:
- The importance of trade with the UK
- The importance of fisheries in the UK exclusive economic zone
- The population living in maritime regions bordering the UK
The Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe, has welcomed the preliminary agreement reached by the Council of the EU and the European Parliament for BAR.
Paschal Donohoe has said that the agreement on BAR being reached so swiftly “underlines the importance of the Brexit Adjustment Reserve as an instrument to support Member States in managing the impact of Brexit.”
Donohoe also stated that “With today’s agreement, we are much closer to funds being disbursed before the end of 2021 and that is most welcome.”
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