RIGA, Dec 16 (LETA) - The European Parliament has supported extra aid in the amount of EUR 47.5 billion for European Union regions that the Covid-19 pandemic has hit the hardest; the funds will help the regions overcome the impact of Covid-19 on social and health care.

The EP on Wednesday supported the REACT-EU initiative - EUR 47.5 billion aid to help the EU regions deal with the consequences of the Covid-19 crisis, as the EP press secretary in Latvia Janis Krastins told LETA. The initiative was adopted by 654 votes in favor, 23 against and 17 abstentions.

The aid will be made available through the EU structural funds, with EUR 37.5 billion assigned for 2021 and EUR 10 billion for 2022, explained Krastins. Operations covered by REACT-EU will be eligible for funding from February 1, 2020, retroactively. The resources can be spent until the end of 2023.

EU countries will be able to allocate part of the money to the European Social Fund, the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived, the Youth Employment Initiative, as well as cross-border programs. Investments will be focused on the sectors most affected by the economic fallout of the pandemic.

REACT-EU is a European Commission proposal to address the economic and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, in the form of an amendment to the Common Provisions Regulation, which governs the 2014-2020 cohesion policy programming period.

According to Krastins, REACT-EU follows two earlier proposals relating to cohesion policy: the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative and the Coronavirus Response Initiative Plus, which both modified the rules for regional spending in order to facilitate recovery. Resources for REACT-EU will come from Next Generation EU, the EU recovery instrument.