The mid-term evaluation of the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), which is helping to support recovery from the outbreak of the coronavirus, shows that the funding has brought positive change and tangible results in the implementation of reforms and investments, European Commission Economic Policy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said in Brussels.
The Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the EU’s recovery instrument at the heart of the €800 billion NextGenerationEU plan, is now halfway through its lifetime. The Commission has taken stock of what the Facility has managed to do so far, and what can be improved in the future.
Presenting the assessment, the Italian commissioner said that the implementation of the €800 billion reform and investment facility at the heart of the recovery plan, called NextGenerationEU, was « well on track » and that the financial package had met its objectives so far.
The European Commission has assessed more than 1,150 « milestones » and targets by the end of 2023, and found that EU countries are satisfactorily meeting the reform and investment agenda set out in their plans. So far, the Brussels body has disbursed nearly €225 billion in RRF support to Member States, plus €67 billion in pre-financing to boost the implementation of reforms and investments, to mitigate the short-term budgetary impact of the coronavirus crisis and then the energy crisis.
In the EU, economic activity has returned to pre-plague levels and unemployment has fallen to a record low of around 6 percent, with EU employment expected to grow by as much as 0.8 percent in the short term, Gentiloni said.
Around half of the expected increase in public investment between 2019 and 2025 will come from the EU budget, especially from investments financed by the recovery fund, he said. In contrast to previous crises, public investment in Europe rose during the crown virus epidemic and the subsequent energy crisis, from 3 percent in 2019 to 3.3 percent in 2023. In 2024, public investment is expected to reach 3.4 percent of GDP, he said.
RRF also plays an important role in the green transition
The EU Commissioner said the RRF is a key tool to accelerate the EU’s green transition. He stressed that all Member States’ plans exceeded the 37% target for climate targets, with some Member States devoting more than 50% of their total plans to the green agenda. Through the REPowerEU chapters of the recovery plans, Member States could devote an additional €60 billion to the green transition. The funding will help to save energy, accelerate clean energy production and diversify the EU’s energy supply, as well as expand manufacturing capacity in net-zero emission industries, he said.
The report also suggests improving flexibility in the design and implementation of national plans, providing the right administrative capacity, and involving regional and local authorities as well as social partners in their implementation.
