Recovery and Resilience Facility: its added value depends on how effectively money is allocated to the EU’s ambitious objectives - Main contents

The Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) will support Member States in absorbing the economic shock created by the COVID crisis and making their economies more resilient. In a new opinion published today, the European Court of Auditors i (ECA) points to the importance of the national Recovery and Resilience Plans (RRPs) in making sure that the EU i’s financial support is targeted at achieving the overall common EU objectives for cohesion, sustainability and digitalisation, and co-ordinated well with other forms of EU and national support.

In May 2020 the European Commission i proposed the Next Generation EU (NGEU i) as part of a wide-ranging package to reduce the socio-economic impact of the pandemic. Within the NGEU, the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) will play the biggest role, with more than €600 billion to distribute in grants and loans. The RRF is designed to offer large-scale financial support for public investments and reforms in cohesion, sustainability and digitalisation. Recipient Member States will need to draft Recovery and Resilience Plans (RRPs) in line with the relevant country-specific recommendations adopted by the Commission in the European Semester.

“The RRF is essential in rapidly mobilising the necessary funds to foster recovery and increase the resilience of our national economies. Member States will have to do their part, setting their agendas for green and digital transitions, investments and reforms,” said Ivana Maletić i, the ECA member responsible for the opinion. “This is an opportunity to demonstrate that the EU creates value for money. To do so, we must be very attentive that the money is actually allocated to measures that help achieve the EU’s ambitious objectives. In this way we will make the most of the RRF’s potential.”

Press Release: Recovery and Resilience Facility: its added value depends on how effectively money is allocated to the EU’s ambitious objectives, say auditors