In July 2020, the European Council decided to establish the funding package called NextGenerationEU worth over EUR 800 billion. Its centrepiece is the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), created in 2021, which aims at mitigating the economic and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As part of the RRF, investments and reforms will be financed in areas of key importance for the entire European Union, divided into six pillars:
- green transition
- digital transformation
- smart, sustainable and inclusive growth
- social and territorial cohesion
- health, economic, social and institutional resilience
- policies for next generation
Graphic description
Policy areas addressed by the Recovery and Resilience Facility (six pillars):
- green transition
- digital transformation
- smart, sustainable and inclusive growth
- social and territorial cohesion
- health, economic, social and institutional resilience
- policies for next generation
Source: ECA based on the RRF Regulation
Photos: © Depositphotos
To obtain funds from the pool of financial aid of over EUR 700 billion available as part of the RRF, Member States need to present their recovery and resilience plans (RRP) which are then assessed by the European Commission. Until 1 June 2022, all countries except for the Netherlands officially presented the Commission with their plans. The EC assessed positively 25 of them, including the Polish RRP. The ECA auditors’ findings reveal that the Commission’s assessment helped improve the quality of milestones and targets. Some of them were not clearly specified, though, and did not cover the key implementation stages. Besides, the Commission’s assessment of cost estimates indicated that in case of some activities relevant information was missing.
The ECA’s special report includes specific information on the criteria and the process of assessing national recovery plans, obligations of EU Member States, European Commission and European Council, support for Member States and part of the Recovery and Resilience Task Force (RECOVER), as well as the systems for RRF audit and control in EU Member States.
Special report 21/2022 “The Commission’s assessment of national recovery and resilience plans – Overall appropriate but implementation risks remain” and press release are available of ECA’s website:
The Commission’s assessment of national recovery and resilience plans (eca.europa.eu)
