The European Commission has approved Austria’s fifth and final payment request for €306 million under the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility, the main funding tool within the post-pandemic NextGenerationEU programme.
Austria would reach a total of €3.96 billion paid out under its national recovery and resilience plan once the final payment is made, the Commission informed on Tuesday.
That would mean Austria has completed 100% of the reforms and investments linked to its plan and fulfilled all 166 milestones and targets.
The Commission said it had assessed Austria as having satisfactorily completed the remaining requirements tied to the request — eight milestones and 10 targets set out in an EU Council implementing decision.
Measures linked to the final payment include financing 19 projects intended to cut greenhouse gas emissions in industry and transport, including investments to improve energy efficiency in industrial production and replace gas with renewable energy.
The package also covers work on parts of the new Koralm railway, which would reduce travel time between Graz and Klagenfurt from three hours to 45 minutes.
Austria’s final payment request also includes investment in “gigabyte-capable” high-speed broadband networks for more than 80,000 households.
What happens next
The Commission has sent its preliminary assessment to the Council’s Economic and Financial Committee, which has four weeks to give its opinion.
Payment can follow after that opinion and a subsequent payment decision by the Commission.
Austria submitted the payment request on 29 July 2026.
The Recovery and Resilience Facility is due to close at the end of 2026, and EU member states had to complete all outstanding milestones and targets by 31 August, while final payment requests must be submitted by the end of September 2026.
