Financiële steun voor Ierland en Portugal ligt op schema(en)

The Council today adopted two decisions (13570/11 + 13334/11) paving the way for the release of the next instalments of financial assistance to Ireland (EUR 7.5 billion) and Portugal (EUR 11.5 billion).

This follows the positive outcome of the last quarterly review of both countries' implementation of the programme conducted by the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). During their visits to Dublin in the first half of July and to Lisbon at the beginning of August the three institutions noted that the Irish and Portuguese programmes were on track, with the respective authorities meeting important programme milestones and demonstrating their commitment to addressing underlying weaknesses in public finances and the financial sector and as regards competitiveness.

The third instalment of the EU financial assistance to Ireland amounts to EUR 5.5 billion and will be disbursed in two instalments, one of up to EUR 2.5 billion by the end of September and the other of up to EUR 3 billion in October. A further EUR 1.5 billion and EUR 0.5 billion are expected to be disbursed by the IMF and the UK respectively. On 7 December 2010 the Council decided to support the Irish programme via loans from the European Union and EU member states amounting to EUR 45 billion and a EUR 22.5 billion Extended Fund Facility with the IMF, complementing an Irish contribution of EUR 17.5 billion.

The third quarter instalment amounting to EUR 11.5 billion for Portugal will be financed by the European Union (EUR 7.6 billion) and the IMF (EUR 3.9 billion). These loans are part of a EUR 78 billion package of financial assistance, with EUR 52 billion being granted by the EU and EUR 26 billion from an Extended Fund Facility with the IMF.