The European Commission has approved Germany’s third request for a €4.6 billion grant payment under the EU’s post-pandemic recovery programme NextGenerationEU.
The funding is being paid through the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the EU scheme that releases money when countries meet agreed reform and investment goals, the Commission announced on Friday.
Germany has met five milestones and 17 targets linked to the request.
The measures covered include energy-efficiency renovations for more than 155,000 buildings and support for the purchase of almost 400,000 electric vehicles, bringing the total number of subsidised vehicles under Germany’s plan to nearly one million.
The package also includes expanding access to more than 2,500 publicly accessible recharging stations.
Digital services and hydrogen research
The Commission said the request also covers work to digitise parts of Germany’s public administration, including plans to digitise 40 state-level services for citizens and businesses under legislation known as the Online Access Act.
Another element involves funding hydrogen research projects under Germany’s National Hydrogen Strategy, the EU executive said, describing hydrogen as a clean energy source.
The Commission has sent its preliminary assessment to the Council’s Economic and Financial Committee, which has four weeks to deliver an opinion.
Payment can follow after that opinion and a payment decision adopted by the Commission.
Germany submitted the payment request on 16 February 2026.
Germany’s recovery and resilience plan is financed by €30 billion in grants, and the latest request would bring total funds paid out to €24.4 billion, including €2.3 billion in pre-financing.
That would represent 80% of the plan’s total funding, with 79% of the plan’s milestones and targets fulfilled.
Member states must complete all remaining milestones and targets by 31 August 2026 and submit final payment requests by the end of September 2026, ahead of the facility closing at the end of 2026, the Commission said.
