Subject: Public works – Funds from the Recovery and Resilience Facility and REACT-EU
According to Article 80 of Law 12/1998 of 21 December 1998 on the Historical Heritage of the Balearic Islands, the budget for any public works above a certain threshold, financed in whole or in part by the Government of the Balearic Islands, island councils, municipalities, their autonomous bodies and public companies that are accountable to them and their concessionaires, shall include an amount equal to or greater than 1% of the funds contributed by those entities. This amount is intended for the preservation, protection and enrichment of the historical heritage or for the promotion of artistic creativity, and should preferably be applied to the same work or to its immediate surroundings.
1. Has the Commission asked the Spanish Government to suspend Article 80 of this Law for projects financed with funds from the Recovery and Resilience Facility and REACT-EU?
2. Is it in any way incompatible to apply this cultural reserve requirement to public works projects financed with funds from the Recovery and Resilience Facility and REACT-EU?
Answer given by Executive Vice-President Dombrovskis on behalf of the European Commission (17 August 2021)
To be eligible for funding under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), Member States need to prepare national recovery and resilience plans (RRP) that the Commission then assesses and proposes for approval by the Council. It is the responsibility of Member States, in consultation with all relevant stakeholders to define a coherent package of investments and reforms, both within their RRPs and within the REACT-EU operational programmes, which complies with the applicable EU and national laws. The Commission assesses the plans and operational programmes submitted by Member States on the basis of the criteria set out in the RRF Regulation (1) and in the Common Provisions Regulation (2), and all reforms and investments will have to comply with these Regulations.
The Commission has not asked the Spanish authorities to suspend Article 80 of the Law on the Historical Heritage of the Balearic Islands (Law 12/1998 of 21 December 1998). In addition, the RRF and Common Provisions Regulations do not include provisions prohibiting a national cultural reserve requirement. The RRF is a performance-based instrument, which means that disbursements of RRF funds are based on the satisfactory fulfilment of a group of agreed milestones and targets, reflecting progress on the implementation of reforms and investments.
On 16 June 2021, the Commission positively assessed Spain's RRP and presented its proposal for a Council Implementing Decision (3). The Council approved the assessment on 13 July 2021 by means of a Council Implementing Decision (4).
⋅1∙ Regulation (EU) 2021/241 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 February 2021 establishing the Recovery and Resilience Facility, OJ L 57, 18.2.2021,
p. 17‐75.
⋅2∙ Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down common provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the
European Social Fund Plus, the Cohesion Fund, and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and financial rules for those and for the Asylum and Migration Fund, the Internal Security Fund and the Border Management and Visa Instrument, COM(2018) 375 final. ⋅3∙ Proposal for a Council Implementing Decision on the approval of the assessment of the recovery and resilience plan for Spain, COM(2021) 322 final. ⋅4∙ https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2021/07/13/council-gives-green-light-to-first-recovery-disbursements/