Recovery and Resilience Facility

The Recovery and Resilience Facility is the key instrument at the heart of NextGenerationEU to help the EU emerge stronger and more resilient from the current crisis.

The Recovery and Resilience Facility

As part of a wide-ranging response, the aim of the Recovery and Resilience Facility is to mitigate the economic and social impact of the coronavirus pandemic and make European economies and societies more sustainable, resilient and better prepared for the challenges and opportunities of the green and digital transitions.

Readying Europe for the future – the Recovery and Resilience Facility

The Facility is a temporary recovery instrument. It allows the Commission to raise funds to help Member States implement reforms and investments that are in line with the EU’s priorities and that address the challenges identified in country-specific recommendations under the European Semester framework of economic and social policy coordination. It makes available €723.8 billion (in current prices) in loans (€385.8 billion) and grants (€338 billion) for that purpose

The RRF helps the EU achieve its target of climate neutrality by 2050 and sets Europe on a path of digital transition, creating jobs and spurring growth in the process.

"Twin transitions: climate neutrality and digital transitions" twin transtion

The visual shows that Member States have allocated almost 40% of the spending in their plans to climate measures and more than 26% on the digital transition across the 22 recovery and resilience plans approved so far. This exceeds the agreed targets of 37% for climate and 20% for digital spending.

Joint, coordinated action at the European level is more effective and benefits Member States more than individual national expenditures, not least due to significant spillover effects across countries.

The RRF is also at the heart of the implementation of the REPowerEU Plan, the Commission’s response to the socio-economic hardships and global energy market disruption caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In this respect, on 18 May 2022, the Commission proposed to make targeted amendments to the RRF Regulation to integrate dedicated REPowerEU chapters in Member States' existing RRPs. This comes in addition to the large number of relevant reforms and investments which are already in the RRPs. It also published a revised Guidance document on Recovery and Resilience Plans in the context of REPowerEU.

The effects of NextGenerationEU on the EU’s real GDP (until 2024 in a high productivity scenario)

The effects of NextGenerationEU to the EU’s real GDP

"Quantifying Spillovers of Next Generation EU Investment, Discussion Paper July 2021."

The Facility is structured around six pillars: green transition; digital transformation; economic cohesion, productivity and competitiveness; social and territorial cohesion; health, economic, social and institutional resilience; policies for the next generation.

"Six pillars of the Recovery and Resilience Facility”

Six pillars of the Recovery and Resilience Facility

Scoreboard

The Recovery and Resilience Scoreboard displays EU countries’ progress in implementing their recovery and resilience plans and shows common indicators to report on progress and evaluate the Recovery and Resilience Facility and the national plans.

How does it work?

The RRF entered into force on 19 February 2021. It finances reforms and investments in Member States from the start of the pandemic in February 2020 until 31 December 2026. To finance NextGenerationEU, the European Commission, on behalf of the EU, will borrow on the capital markets.

To benefit from the support of the Facility, Member States submit their recovery and resilience plans to the European Commission. Each plan sets out the reforms and investments to be implemented by end-2026 and Member States can receive financing up to a previously agreed allocation.

Each plan should effectively address challenges identified in the European Semester, particularly the country-specific recommendations adopted by the Council. It should also advance the green and digital transitions and make Member States’ economies and societies more resilient.

The Recovery and Resilience Facility is performance based. Fulfilment of agreed milestones and targets towards achieving the reforms and investments in the plans will unlock regular payment.

"From plans to implementation. The Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) – How does it work?"

FROM PLANS TO IMPLEMENTATION

Questions and answers on the Recovery and Resilience Facility

Close links to the European Semester

The recovery and resilience plans will drive the Member States’ reform and investment agenda for the years to come. The European Semester, with its broader scope and multilateral surveillance, will usefully guide and complement the implementation of the recovery and resilience plans.

For this reason, starting from its 2022 cycle, the European Semester process was adapted to take into account the creation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility and of the implementation of the recovery and resilience plans:

Country reports were streamlined. In terms of content, they provide an overview of the economic and social developments and challenges that Member States are facing, as well as a forward-looking analysis of their resilience. Based on this analysis, the country reports identify those challenges which are not sufficiently addressed by the recovery and resilience plans.
Country-specific recommendations: together with the country reports, the Commission proposes to the Council country-specific recommendations (CSRs). The CSRs address the key issues identified in the country reports, and where relevant the in-depth reviews, for which policy action will be required. The CSRs also include recommendations on the budgetary situation of the Member States as envisaged under the Stability and Growth Pact.
The national reform programmes (NRP) play a dual role. Besides their role in the context of the European Semester, the NRPs also fulfil one of the two bi-annual reporting requirements of Member States under the Recovery and Resilience Facility.

The European Semester and Recovery and Resilience Facility processes are now integrated as illustrated below:

European Semester Cicly

The European Semester in the time of the Recovery and Resilience Facility

More information on the European Semester

The country reports, the in-depth reviews and the proposals for CSRs form part of the yearly European Semester Spring package.

The CSRs proposed by the Commission in the context of the 2022 European Semester Spring Package also identify for each Member State which action should be taken in light of the current energy challenges, in the context and in line with the Commission’s REPowerEU proposal.

National recovery and resilience plans

The flags below will guide you to the Member State section. The links contain all relevant country-specific information, such as the recovery and resilience plans and key points about them, and where available, the legal texts approving the plan and accompanying press material.

The Recovery and Resilience Task Force

In August 2020, the European Commission established the Recovery and Resilience Task Force (RECOVER) within its Secretariat-General. Jointly with the Commission’s Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, RECOVER is responsible for steering the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility. RECOVER also coordinates the European Semester and reports to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.