Interpretation of the concept of ‘final recipient’ under the Recovery and Resilience Facility

Subject: Interpretation of the concept of ‘final recipient’ under the Recovery and Resilience Facility

The European Parliament adopted resolution P9_TA (2024) 0 0411 in January 2024. In it, Parliament states that it regrets the Commission’s interpretation of the concept of ‘final recipient’ under the Recovery and Resilience Facility. Paragraph 67 of this resolution states that Parliament regrets that the Commission does not request that Member States provide information on the final beneficiary or recipient of RRF funding, choosing instead to require Member States to provide information only about ‘second-level recipients’. Parliament is also of the opinion that this interpretation is not in line with the agreement between the co-legislators;

1. Does the Commission acknowledge that the current definition of ‘final recipient’, and thus the lack of transparency on the final beneficiary or recipient of RRF funding, contributes to fraud and corruption?

2. To what extent has the Commission taken measures to prevent and detect fraud and corruption?

3. Is the Commission willing to broaden the definition of ‘final recipient’ to include all recipients of RRF funding, including subcontractors?

Submitted:13.3.2024

1 https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2024-0041_EN.html.

Answer given by Executive Vice-President Dombrovskis on behalf of the European Commission (27 May 2024)

1. The current definition of ‘final recipients’ stems directly from Article 22(2)(d) of the regulation establishing the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) (2), which mentions final recipients as separate entities from (sub-)contractors. The article also provides that, in case there is a (sub-)contractor, the contracting authority is the final recipient. In the absence of a different definition in other articles, the Commission applies this definition systematically throughout the regulation to ensure a uniform and consistent interpretation. Nonetheless, the regulation requires Member States to collect and ensure access to data on contractors and sub-contractors as well as on beneficial owners for audit and control purposes. There are no indications that the application of the provisions of the regulation enabled or contributed to any cases of fraud and/or corruption related to the RRF funds.

2. While in accordance with Article 22(1) of the RRF Regulation the obligation to safeguard the EU’s financial interests related to RRF funds lies primarily with the Member States, the Commission has taken multiple measures to ensure that this obligation is adhered to, by assessing the robustness of Member States’ control systems when approving or revising recovery and resilience plans, including specific audit and control milestones, and performing system, compliance, and ex post audits. Additionally, any payment under the RRF is subject to an extensive control of the underlying evidence by the Commission and is possible only if full assurance on the achievement of a certain measure is obtained.

3. The Commission would refer the Honourable Member to the reply to question 1. As for any other piece of adopted EU law, it is the Commission’s responsibility to monitor and ensure the correct application of the RRF Regulation.

1 ∙ ⸱ https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2024-0041_EN.html.

2 ∙ ⸱ Regulation (EU) 2021/241 of the European Parliament and the Council establishing the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF Regulation), OJ L57,

18.2.2021, p. 17.