Subject: Opaque and partisan criteria in the distribution of Next Generation EU funds among Spanish regions
On 20 January 2021, a number of Spanish regional ministries wrote to the Commission President to complain about the Spanish Government’s poor management of the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).
The letter draws the Commission’s attention to the fact that ‘the criteria for distributing European funds on national territory are being imposed unilaterally by the Spanish Government, without transparency, by means of sectarian, undemocratic decisions intended to benefit certain territories for political reasons, which is clearly unacceptable’. They are afraid that the Government is favouring some regions over others for political reasons that run counter to social and territorial cohesion.
The regional ministries also complained that the Government was not involving regional authorities at all in the drafting of Spain’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
1. What view does the Commission take of these facts?
2. How will it ensure that the Spanish Government uses transparent and non-partisan criteria in the distribution of RRF funds among Spanish regions?
3. How will it assess whether regional and local authorities’ contributions have been incorporated in the National Plan?
Answer given by Executive Vice-President Dombrovskis on behalf of the European Commission (24 March 2021)
Social and territorial cohesion is one of the six main objectives of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). The regulation recognises that regional and local authorities are important partners in the implementation of reforms and investments. Recovery and Resilience Plans (RRPs) shall include a summary of the consultation process of these authorities in their preparation, which shall be conducted in accordance with the national legal framework. Plans should specify how input is reflected. Information on the scope, type and timing of the outreach efforts carried out should be included, in accordance with the published guidance to Member States on RRPs. Plans should also explain the envisaged steps to involve and consult relevant stakeholders in their implementation.
This approach seeks to improve the quality of RRPs and enhance transparency, as well as to ensure the effective implementation of reforms and investments. While RRPs are prepared at national level for coordination and coherence, ensuring ownership at all levels is key for their effectiveness, which is one of the criteria used by the Commission when assessing the Plans.
Payments under the RRF are linked to the satisfactory completion of milestones and targets set in RRPs. It is the responsibility of each Member State to explore how individual projects can benefit from it, taking into account regional and local challenges, as well as other available European funds. As the crisis has not affected all regions and localities in the same way, RRPs are expected to reflect distributional effects and take into account differences across regions in a transparent way.
The Commission encourages the Spanish authorities to strengthen cooperation efforts across levels of government to ensure the effective implementation of the RRF and of other EU funds.