MADRID IS INTERNATIONAL

The Madrid City Council, together with its agencies and public sector have submitted a total of 33 applications, to this date, corresponding to 23 different calls for the award of European funds from the European Recovery and Resilience Facility.

In June 2021, the council presented the Madrid Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, to position the city in light of the opportunities that are opened up by European recovery funds. The document, with an eye on the conditions approved by the EU, and also following the strategy of the Government of Spain to channel the funds, came to establish the main axes and priority projects that will strengthen the transformation strategy thanks to the financing offered by the Recovery and Resilience Facility in the coming years.

Likewise, this plan contains a fact-based calculation of the capacity of the municipal structure to request, receive, invest, and justify the funds, a capacity that was calculated at 3,900 million euros for the period. In parallel, as most of the financing is granted to local entities through calls in competition with each other, the city of Madrid has reinforced its administrative structure for the request for funds, the monitoring of the calls, the diffusion that the EU requires, and the proper use of the amounts obtained -including fraud prevention work- and also the full justification before the corresponding authorities. Due to its competency in the matter, the Municipal Area for Internationalization and Cooperation is carrying out these tasks, in coordination with the municipal Treasury and the Mayor's Office, as well as in permanent contact with the managing bodies of each of the investments to be made.

All this structure has worked systematically to capture a total of 333 million euros from European funds to this date, which will be dedicated to the 96 actions that have already been accepted. Specifically, through competitive calls, the amount captured by the City Council is 273 million euros (90 actions) while the remaining 60 million (for 6 actions) have come through agreements signed by the Madrid City Council with several managing administrations of these funds.

Thus, the objective is for the city of Madrid to benefit as much as possible from this European facility, significantly increasing its ability to invest and transform the city by adding these resources to those of the general budget. Even more so when the City hall has shown plenty of administrative and technical capacity, clearly outlined in the strategic document presented at the beginning of the process.

Within the framework of these tasks, the Municipal Area for Internationalization and Cooperation has published a European Funds Management Manual, intended for internal use, but which has become the reference for many other town councils, as many administrative features of the EU mechanism are novel. Likewise, it has prepared and sent to the managing authorities a complete Anti-Fraud Plan, in collaboration with the Municipal Office for the Fight against Fraud and Corruption, to fully comply with what is required by the European authorities and, once again, collaborate with other councils that may benefit from the Madrid experience.

At this time, with Madrid City Council waiting for several calls yet to be awarded, the city may capture and additional one hundred million euros, which would allow another 58 actions to be completed. European funds will be used for actions in multiple sectors, such as the investments in mobility dedicated to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the sustainability of tourism and markets, the strengthening of commercial activity, mobility electricity, new plans for social inclusion, the digitization of the administration, the recovery of the city's river and creek beds or the improvement in emergency management and waste management. Besides, the agreements signed include the improvement of day care centers for the elder, the adaptation of senior residences, and the general improvement of social services.