On Monday 17 April, European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis and Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni met with MEPs from the European Parliament’s Committee on Budgets (BUDG) and from its Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON), to discuss the Commission’s assessment of the implementation of national recovery plans and the inclusion of REPowerEU chapters.
“So far, we have received 27 payment requests from 18 Member States and we have given a positive assessment on 24 of these 27 payment requests”, said Commissioner Gentiloni.
Since the previous dialogue on the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) in February 2023, the Commission has adopted six new preliminary assessments for payment requests from six Member States (Spain, Slovakia, Slovenia, Denmark, the Czech Republic and Lithuania).
It should be noted that over €150 billion has now been paid out to different Member States under the RRF.
As Commissioner Dombrovskis stated, the Recovery and Resilience Facility, under Next Generation EU, is celebrating its second anniversary (see EUROPE 12698/2) and since its introduction the economic and geopolitical context has changed: “The aim is to strengthen the position of the Member States in the field of competitiveness for a ‘net zero’ transition, taking into account the REpowerEU chapter”.
The REPowerEU legislation effectively came into force on 1 March. In this context, the Commission has asked Member States to present a revised RRF plan by 30 April, including specific chapters aimed at reducing the EU’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels and accelerating the green transition through energy reforms and investments.
While some questions from MEPs focused on this “fast-track” deadline, the commissioners emphasised that it was not binding.
Nevertheless, Mr Dombrovskis congratulated Estonia for being the first country to include a REPowerEU chapter in its recovery and resilience plan.
In the longer term, he reiterated that the deadline for the implementation of RRF reforms and investments is 2026: “This is an ambitious goal and the priority is to accelerate the pace. Member States must make efforts to ensure that payments and investments are made on time”.
To see the analysis of the dialogue, visit: https://aeur.eu/f/6cw (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)