Recovery and Resilience Facility

Subject: Recovery and Resilience Facility

Within the framework of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, each Member State must envision the estimated total expenditure needed to realise the reforms and investment projects it is to implement. During the process of actually realising the reforms and investment projects, the real expenditure may be significantly lower than that initially foreseen. Has the Commission developed a mechanism to enable the Member State concerned to use the left-over funds, such as, for example, for additional investment projects stipulated in a reserve list by the Member State concerned?

Answer given by Executive Vice-President Dombrovskis on behalf of the European Commission (3 September 2021)

The Commission assesses the Recovery and Resilience Plans (RRPs) against the criteria set out in Article 19 of the regulation establishing the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) (1).

As regards the estimated costs in the RRPs, Member States are required to explain the methodology behind and justify the estimated costs’ reasonability and plausibility. The costs estimates further need to be in line with the principle of cost efficiency and commensurate to the expected national economic and social impact.

As set out in Article 24 of the RRF Regulation, the Facility is a performance-based instrument. Member States commit to fulfil specific milestones and targets related to the reforms and investments in their RRPs.

Upon completion of the agreed milestones and targets, the Member States submit a duly justified request for payment. The Commission will assess whether the agreed milestones and targets are satisfactorily fulfilled and only make payments when this is the case.

The disbursements under the RRF are conditional on a positive assessment regarding the satisfactory achievement of milestones and targets and not linked to the actual costs incurred. The full amount will be disbursed if the milestones and targets are satisfactorily fulfilled.

If the actual costs incurred by a Member State in the implementation exceed the estimated costs of the RRP, the Member State covers the remainder from national budgets. Conversely, the Member State does not have to return the funding in case the cost is lower than estimated.

⋅1∙ https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32021R0241 | | ( | | )