Finland Ratifies EU Recovery Fund, Clearing a Key Hurdle

(Bloomberg) -- Finland’s parliament approved the European Union recovery fund, removing one obstacle to unleashing unprecedented 800 billion euros ($977 billion) in stimulus across the 27-nation bloc.

Members of parliament in Helsinki voted 134 to 57 to pass the bill, with two abstaining and six absent from Tuesday’s ballot. A number of opposition lawmakers voted with the government, giving it the requisite supermajority to pass the deal.

All EU member states must ratify the stimulus, to be disbursed in the form of grants and loans to help its members emerge from the pandemic-induced economic and social crisis with greener and more digitalized technologies and economies. The EU’s seven-year budget is also bundled together with the recovery fund.

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