Mid-term evaluation of the Recovery and Resilience facility

Background:

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has adopted an evaluation report on the implementation of the EU's Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), a critical temporary instrument – introduced in February 2021 – of EUR 723.8 billion in loans and grants available to support reforms and investments undertaken by the Members States to emerge stronger and more resilient from the COVID-19 pandemic. This report gathers the main recommendations of the social partners and civil society organisations consulted in Germany, Italy, Latvia, Portugal and Romania, on the effectiveness, relevance and added value of civil society involvement in implementing this instrument.

Key points:

In the evaluation report, the EESC

• stresses the need for better, timely, and consistent information regarding the progress of the national Recovery and Resilience Plans. This includes details like intermediary beneficiaries and final recipients, covering at least the total amount of the contract, the scope and the conclusion;

• insists on addressing the slow pace of project implementation and calls on the Commission and national governments to simplify procedures, reduce bureaucracy, provide support to ensure effective and timely execution, and provide targeted assistance to SMEs;

• calls for greater flexibility in the section of projects, the allocation of funds and timelines to adapt to changing circumstances and emerging needs, and advocates for an extension of the implementation period to ensure that all funds are utilised effectively;

• highlights the importance of establishing more effective, mandatory monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to assess the sustainability and long-term impact of the RRF, in which organised civil society must actively participate;

…

Additional information:

- EESC section: Economic and Monetary Union and Economic and Social Cohesion (ECO)

- opinion type: Evaluation Report

- rapporteur: Elena-Alexandra CALISTRU (Diversity Europe - GR III / Romania)

- co-rapporteur: Javier DOZ ORRIT (Workers - GR II / Spain)

- reference: ECO/607-EESC-2023

- referral:

- date of adoption by section: 8/09/2023

- date of adoption in plenary: 20-21/09/2023

Contact: