Recovery and Resilience Plan

Subject: Recovery and Resilience Plan

The Farm to Fork Strategy is at the heart of the Green Deal1. The Commission Staff Working Document – Guidance for Member States on Recovery and Resilience Plans – also provides a recommendation on investing in sustainable food production (‘Investments in sustainable food production and consumption in line with objectives set out in the Farm to Fork Strategy’)2.

Agriculture is a unique sector, as increasing production through sustainable methods not only helps us to adapt to climate change, but also helps to mitigates it. Lithuanian agriculture, which has the lowest productivity per hectare in the EU, has the greatest potential in this respect. However, in Lithuania, the Recovery and Resilience Plan does not provide for funds for agriculture. This happened due to the fact that the plan had been prepared in secret, as the Lithuanian Minister for Finance ‘G. Skaistė said that the EUR 2 billion recovery plan had been requested by the European Commission’3.

In light of the foregoing:

1. Does the Commission agree with this secrecy surrounding the Recovery and Resilience Plan?

2. Does the Commission agree that, under the Recovery and Resilience Plan, a Member State must provide agriculture with a share of funding that would be sufficient to meeting the challenges of the Farm to Fork Strategy?

1 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/LT/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52020DC0381

2 https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/document_travail_service_part1_v2_en.pdf

3 https://www.delfi.lt/news/daily/lithuania/gintare-skaiste-negali-paaiskinti-kodel-2-milijardu-euru-skirstymo-

plana-renge-slapta.d?id=86990407

Answer given by Mr Gentiloni on behalf of the European Commission

(6 July 2021)

The Commission is not in a position to comment on Lithuania’s recovery and resilience plan (RRP), currently under assessment.

Article 18(4)(q) of the RRF Regulation (4) and the Commission guidance to Member States on the RRPs (5), indicate that RRPs should include a summary of the consultation process conducted in accordance with the national legal framework and describe how stakeholder inputs are taken into account and reflected during the preparation of the RRPs.

The Commission underlines the key role of local and regional authorities, social partners, civil society organisations, youth organisations and other relevant stakeholders in the preparation and implementation of the RRPs, as broad citizen ownership of the RRPs is crucial for the success of the RRF.

The extent to which the RRP takes into account stakeholder consultations can contribute to its lasting impact, which is one of the assessment criteria listed by the RRF Regulation.

The Commission has also stressed in the communication on the Annual Sustainable Growth Strategy 2021 (6) that it will be crucial for Member States to engage in a broad policy dialogue with social partners and all other relevant stakeholders to prepare their RRPs.

The Commission guidance also indicates that investments in sustainable food production and consumption in line with the objectives set out in the Farm to Fork Strategy can be considered good examples of investments supporting the green transition.

Nevertheless, it is incumbent on Member States to appreciate which key challenges should be best addressed through their RRPs. While the RRPs must satisfy the criteria set by the RRF Regulation, no specific policy area can be considered mandatory.

⋅1∙ https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/LT/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52020DC0381

⋅2∙ https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/document_travail_service_part1_v2_en.pdf

⋅3∙ https://www.delfi.lt/news/daily/lithuania/gintare-skaiste-negali-paaiskinti-kodel-2-milijardu-euru-skirstymo-plana-renge-slapta.d?id=86990407

⋅4∙ 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.

⋅5∙ SWD(2021) 12 final.

⋅6∙ COM(2020) 575 final.