Malta to receive €42 million of €4 billion EU Brexit fund in 2021

According to plans revealed this week, Malta will receive €42 million in EU Brexit funds to weather the impact of Britain’s departure from the EU single market and Customs union.

The European Commission proposes that Ireland will receive the largest chunk of the Brexit Adjustment Reserve, getting $1 billion of the fund’s €5 billion. The Netherlands will get €757 million, Germany €455 million, and €421 million for France.

The funds will be used to support businesses and jobs in affected sectors as well as to support the administrative demands supporting the functioning of new border, customs, and sanitary requirements.

The proposed allocations, which will need to be approved by the European Parliament and EU member states, take into consideration EU nations’ varying levels of economic integration with the UK and those nations dependent on fishing activities in the United Kingdom waters.

Luxembourg, whose GDP is nearly five times that of Malta is set to receive €121 million. Italy is due to get €87 million.

Data has suggested that Malta will suffer especially from Britain’s departure from the EU. According to a KPMG report in 2017, Malta is particularly exposed to the UK for exporting goods, with UK exports constituting 9.1 per cent of their GDP. Only Ireland and Luxembourg were reported to be more exposed.

The first round of disbursements is set to take place in 2021 and will hand out €4 billion of the funds’ €5 billion. The remaining €1 billion is set to be distributed in 2024 depending on how actual expenditure incurred matches up with the initial allocation.