The Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) at the heart of NextGenerationEU is a once in a generation opportunity for deep structural transformation in the Member States. The Facility deploys up to €723.8 billion (in current prices) in loans and grants in order to support the reform and investment packages put forward by the Member States in their national Recovery and Resilience Plans (RRPs).
Reforms and investments contained in the RRPs are well aligned with the EU’s strategic priorities and address country-specific challenges identified within the European Semester framework of economic and social policy coordination. The measures contained in the RRPs are expected to facilitate and accelerate the green and digital transitions in the Member States, while increasing resilience, cohesion and sustainable growth.
Finally the European Commission, via the Technical Support Instrument, has been helping Member States with the preparation and implementation of their national RRPs. So far, more than 500 projects approved under the TSI are linked to the preparation or implementation of Member States’ RRPs. TSI assistance has taken the form of general support, horizontally applicable for a smooth implementation of the plans, and thematic support, targeting specific reforms and investments in the RRPs.
General support for the overall preparation or implementation of RRPs
TSI has been providing general support to 23 Member States to further enhance their ability to implement the RRPs, including as regards the RRP monitoring and project management methods, reporting mechanisms, audit and control frameworks, communication strategy, governance structures, including IT systems, or to assist with the application of the “Do No Significant Harm” principle.
- RRP preparation in Cyprus
The Commission supported Cyprus in preparing its RRP, including for setting up costing methodologies on RRP reforms and investments and for the design of a monitoring facility.
- RRP implementation mechanisms in Portugal
The Commission is supporting Portugal in enhancing the RRP monitoring, reporting, audit and control mechanisms and in developing an investment management framework for RRP investments.
The Commission supported Slovakia in designing a communication strategy aimed to communicate the benefits of RRP implementation to the general public.
The Commission is supporting the Belgian authorities in building capacities to monitor, coordinate and implement their national recovery and resilience plan.
The European Commission has provided technical support to Latvia to strengthen resilience and recovery by implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan.
The European Commission has provided analytical reports and capacity building workshops to Ireland’s implementing body for the NRRP, to help enhance their monitoring, control, audit and reporting functions.
The Commission is providing support to four Spanish regional authorities in order to design a scalable and replicable reference framework for supporting the entrepreneurship ecosystem.
Support for the implementation of thematic reforms and investments in the RRP
TSI has been supporting the implementation of thematic reforms and investments included in the RRPs, across policy areas of governance and public administration, digital, sustainable growth and business environment, labour market, health, education, social services, revenue administration and public financial management or in the financial sector.
- Green transition reforms and investments in Spain: The Commission is supporting Spain in monitoring, reporting, and implementing green reforms and investments, as set out in components 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the national RRP.
- Rail sector restructuring in Greece: The European Commission is supporting Greece with the restructuring of its rail system in order to make the national rail infrastructure sector more efficient, modern, better integrated and responsive to customer demand, as set out in component 4 of the national RRP.
- Spending review reforms in Belgium: The Commission is supporting Belgium with the introduction and institutionalisation of spending reviews at federal level, as well as in the Brussels-Capital-Region, the Walloon Region and Wallonia-Brussels Federation, as set out in component 6 of the national RRP.
- Tax administration reform in Romania: The Commission is supporting Romania with the reform of the tax administration, by helping to deliver input for the revision of the legal and institutional framework for fiscal control activities, as set out in component C8 of the national RRP.
- Digitalization of the judiciary and enhancing the transparency of judicial decisions in Croatia: The Commission is supporting Croatia with the further uptake of e-communication and publication of court decisions, which shall contribute to enhanced efficiency and transparency of the judicial process and consistency of decisions, as set out in component 2 of the national RRP.
- Public administration reform in Italy: The Commission is supporting Italy in improving the exchange of information between different levels and departments of the public administration, by introducing and testing new methodologies, as set out in component 1 of the national RRP.
- Healthcare provision in Lithuania: The Commission is supporting Lithuania in improving the provision of long-term care services, with a particular focus on mental health, as set out in component A.1 of the national RRP.
- FinTech development in Czechia: The Commission is supporting Czechia in further developing its FinTech sector, as specified in component D1 of the national RRP, by setting-up a regulatory sandbox for innovative financial services, open to all financial actors.
- Promotion of hydrogen value chain and open-access network for Flanders: The European Commission is assisting Belgium with the implementation of component 1.2 of its Recovery and Resilience Plan linked to emerging energy technologies.
Additional support for RRP implementation
Member States may also decide to finance additional technical support linked to the implementation of the RRPs through transfers from the RRF resources to the TSI by using Article 7 of the TSI Regulation in combination with Article 7(2) of the RRF Regulation, or transfers from national funds to the TSI under Article 7 of the TSI Regulation.
These possibilities have so far been used by Romania, Croatia, Greece and Cyprus covering 8 additional projects linked to RRP implementation in the areas of healthcare, education, public procurement, energy, better regulation, administrative burden reduction and investment promotion.
Contact details
Head of Unit Horizontal Policies
Ioannis HADJIYIANNIS
Main contact point for applying for the Technical Support Instrument
REFORM-TSI
ec [dot] europa [dot] eu (REFORM-TSI[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)
Further details on the work related to governance and public administration
REFORM-01ec [dot] europa [dot] eu (REFORM-01[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)
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