Recovery and Resilience Facility: Current Implementation Status and Future Prospects

Key Chapter Title List

1. Background
2. European Commission's Mid-term Evaluation and 2024 Annual Report
3. Literature Review on Core Issues
4. Financial Elements of the Recovery and Resilience Facility: Resources, Borrowing Operations, and Repayment
5. Payment Requests and Fund Absorption Efficiency
6. Transparency Issues in Implementation
7. Stakeholder Participation in National Recovery and Resilience Plans
8. The Role and Position of the European Parliament
9. Member State-Related Issues and Inquiries
10. Conclusion

Document Introduction

This report is a specialized assessment prepared by the European Parliamentary Research Service for the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) and the Committee on Budgets (BUDG). It aims to serve as a core reference for these two committees in compiling their implementation report on the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). As the central component of the 'Next Generation EU' (NGEU) recovery instrument, the RRF was established in 2021 with a total volume of €650 billion (including €359 billion in grants and €291 billion in loans). It is designed to help Member States address shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the energy crisis, advance key agendas like the green and digital transitions, and operates for the period 2021-2026.

Based on publicly available EU official reports, academic research, and parliamentary resolutions, the report constructs a multi-dimensional analytical framework. It first outlines the core content of the European Commission's mid-term evaluation published in February 2024 and its third annual report published in October 2024. Using the five key assessment criteria of effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, coherence, and EU added value, it systematically analyzes the implementation progress of the RRF under its six policy pillars.

In the core issues research section, the report focuses on the RRF's financial mechanisms (including funding sources, EU capital market borrowing operations, and the 2028-2058 repayment arrangements), fund absorption efficiency (with an overall absorption rate of 47.1% by the end of 2024), and causes of delays (such as insufficient administrative capacity, procedural obstacles, and external economic shocks). Simultaneously, it provides an in-depth analysis of key issues such as implementation transparency mechanisms (e.g., beneficiary information disclosure, Recovery and Resilience Dialogues) and the current state of stakeholder participation (notably insufficient involvement of local and regional authorities).

The report also specifically elaborates on the role of the European Parliament in RRF oversight, including exercising democratic scrutiny through the annual budgetary discharge procedure and promoting the improvement of transparency rules. It summarizes the core topics of recent parliamentary resolutions and Members' inquiries. Furthermore, the report compares the differences in stakeholder participation mechanisms between the RRF and the Ukraine Facility, providing a reference for the future governance optimization of EU recovery instruments.

As a rigorous policy evaluation report, its findings acknowledge the positive role of the RRF in supporting Member States to cope with crises and advance structural reforms. It also highlights prominent challenges such as uneven fund absorption, centralized governance, and imperfect assessment indicators. The report provides an important basis for the design of recovery instruments under the EU's post-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework.