The examination of the ‘Recovery and Resilience Facility’ (RRF) mechanism as part of the European Parliament’s 2024 general EU budget discharge procedure led to a questioning of the structure of the next long-term EU budget (2028-2034) on Wednesday 5 November, during an exchange with the European Commission.
MEPs have referred to the “qualified” opinion issued on Thursday 9 October by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) on the RRF for the financial year 2024 (see EUROPE 13728/21). The Court of Auditors pointed out the unreliability of the national information sent to the Commission, the differences in management and ambitions between States and the impossibility of determining precisely how much money has reached the final beneficiaries.
However, the RRF and its principle of performance-based budgeting (‘cash for reforms’) have been used as models for establishing national and regional partnership plans for the Multiannual Financial Framework 2028-2034. “For the future, we need to have more details in the regulations on the final beneficiaries ", insisted the Court of Auditors.
According to the rapporteur for the 2024 discharge, Daniel Freund (Greens/EFA, German), the Member States must “make a greater effort to provide information on the final beneficiaries of the RRF”.
Three other concerns, raised by Cristian Terheș (ECR, Romanian), emerged: that funds in the next MFF reach “the intended recipients”, that reducing inequalities between EU regions remains an objective and that “funds allocated to a country remain in the country”. (Original version in French by Florent Servia)