REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility: Moving forward
Date: 2023-09-25
Institutions: European Commission, Secretariat-General
Subjects: EU aid, EU energy policy, EU financial instrument, EU financing arrangements, economic recovery, economic reform, energy transition, investment, renewable energy, structural adjustment

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 25.9.2023  COM(2023) 545 final/2  CORRIGENDUM  This document corrects document COM(2023) 545 final of 19.09.2023.  Concerns the English version.  Correction of formatting errors, no change to the text.  The text shall read as follows: REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility: Moving forward      
 
 
Contents 

Acronyms ................................................................................................................................... 4 

1.  Executive summary ............................................................................................................. 5 

2.  State of play on the implementation of the RRF ................................................................. 8 

2.1. State of play on the implementation of RRPs .................................................................. 8 

2.2. Increased transparency in the assessment of payment requests .................................... 18 

2.3. Revision of RRPs ........................................................................................................... 19 

2.4. State of play on financing the RRF ............................................................................... 24 

2.5. Controls and audit in the implementation of the RRF ................................................... 26 

2.6. Outreach on RRP implementation and transparency ..................................................... 28 

3.  Contribution of the Facility to the RRF Objectives .......................................................... 37 

3.1. Contribution of the Facility to the green transition (i.e. Pillar 1) .................................. 38 

3.2. Contribution of the Facility to the digital transformation (i.e. Pillar 2) ........................ 42 

3.3. Contribution of the Facility to smart, sustainable and inclusive growth (i.e. Pillar 3) .. 47 

3.4. Contribution of the Facility to social and territorial cohesion (i.e. Pillar 4) .................. 51 

3.5. Contribution of the Facility to health, and economic, social, and institutional resilience, 
with the aim of, inter alia, increasing crisis preparedness and crisis response capacity (i.e. 
Pillar 5) ................................................................................................................................. 57 

3.6. Contribution of the Facility to policies for the next generation, children and the youth, 
such as education and skills (i.e. Pillar 6) ............................................................................. 64 

3.7. Contribution of the Facility to social policy, including gender equality as well as 
children and youth ................................................................................................................ 68 

3.8. Contribution cross-border & multi-country projects ..................................................... 74 

3.9. Contribution to the implementation of country-specific recommendations .................. 77 

4.  REPowerEU ...................................................................................................................... 79 

4.1. Measures included in the REPowerEU chapters ........................................................... 79 

4.2. Financing of REPowerEU ............................................................................................. 83 

5.  Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 86 

1 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figures: 

Figure 1: Progress of milestones and targets due in the past, for Q1 2020 to Q1 2023 ........... 12 
Figure 2: Progress of milestones and targets due in the future, for Q2 2023 to Q2 2024 ........ 12 
Figure 3: Progress of reforms- and investment-related milestones and targets ....................... 12 
Figure 4: Progress of milestones and targets per RRF Pillar ................................................... 13 
Figure 5: Type of delayed milestones and targets .................................................................... 14 
Figure 6: State of progress towards the common indicators .................................................... 16 
Figure 7: Evolution of savings in annual primary energy consumption in MWh per year ...... 16 
Figure 8: Evolution of number of enterprises supported .......................................................... 17 
Figure 9: Evolution of participants in education or training .................................................... 17 
Figure 10: Process for the payment suspension ....................................................................... 19 
Figure 11: Spread of the largest final recipients per Member State ......................................... 32 
Figure 12: Contribution of the amounts received and associated measures which the 100 
largest final recipients receive support for towards the six policy pillars ................................ 33 
Figure 13: Share of RRF funds contributing to each policy pillar ........................................... 37 
Figure 14: Breakdown of expenditure supporting the green transition, by policy area ........... 38 
Figure 15: Contribution to climate objectives as share of RRP allocation .............................. 39 
Figure 16: Number of measures in pillar 1 with milestones and targets satisfactorily fulfilled 
since the last RRF annual report, per policy area ..................................................................... 40 
Figure 17: Breakdown of expenditure supporting the digital transformation per policy area . 43 
Figure 18: Contribution to digital objectives as share of RRP allocation ................................ 44 
Figure 19: Number of measures in pillar 2 with milestones and targets satisfactorily fulfilled 
since the last RRF annual report, per policy area ..................................................................... 44 
Figure 20: Breakdown of expenditure supporting smart, sustainable and inclusive growth per 
policy area ................................................................................................................................ 48 
Figure 21: Number of measures in pillar 3 with milestones and targets satisfactorily fulfilled 
since the last RRF annual report, per policy area ..................................................................... 49 
Figure 22: Breakdown of expenditure supporting social and territorial cohesion per policy 
area ........................................................................................................................................... 52 
Figure 23: Number of measures in pillar 4 with milestones and targets satisfactorily fulfilled 
since the last RRF annual report, per policy area ..................................................................... 53 
Figure 24: Breakdown of expenditure supporting health and resilience per policy area ......... 58 
Figure 25: Number of measures in pillar 5 with milestones and targets satisfactorily fulfilled 
since the last RRF annual report, per policy area ..................................................................... 59 
Figure 26: Breakdown of expenditure supporting policies for next generation, per policy area
 .................................................................................................................................................. 65 
Figure 27: Number of measures in pillar 6 with milestones and targets satisfactorily fulfilled 
since the last RRF annual report, per policy area ..................................................................... 65 
Figure 28: Share of RRF social expenditure by main social categories ................................... 69 
Figure 29: Share (in %) of measures having a focus on gender equality in adopted RRPs ..... 70 
Figure 30: Current level of implementation of 2019-2020 CSRs ............................................ 78 
Figure 31: Implementation of 2019-2022 CSRs: annual assessment in each consecutive year 
versus implementation to date .................................................................................................. 78 

2 

 
 
Tables: 

Table 1: Processing of payment requests ................................................................................... 9 
Table 2: State of play on implementation of RRF payment requests ....................................... 10 
Table 3: Number and median period of M&Ts with a delayed or early reported target date of 
implementation, for reforms and investments .......................................................................... 14 
Table 4: Overview table submission of modified RRPs and REPowerEU chapters ............... 21 
Table 5: Legal basis used by Member States in modifying their RRPs ................................... 22 
Table 6: Change in non-repayable financial support under Article 18 of the RRF Regulation 22 
Table 7: Loans requested by Member States by 31 August 2023 ............................................ 23 
Table 8: Multi-country projects relating to measures under the Green Transition pillar ......... 75 
Table 9. Digital multi-country projects .................................................................................... 76 
Table 10: Overview of the content of the adopted REPowerEU chapters ............................... 80 
Table 11: Additional non-repayable support available per Member State ............................... 84 
Table 12: Transfer of allocation under BAR ............................................................................ 85 

3 

 
 
Acronyms 

BAR 

CIDs 

Brexit Adjustment Reserve 

Council Implementing Decisions 

COVID-19 

Coronavirus disease of 2019 

CSRs 

Country-specific recommendations 

ECEC 

Early childhood education and care 

EFC 

Economic and Financial Committee 

EPLOs 

European Parliament Liaison Offices 

ETS 

EUR 

Emissions Trading System  

Euro (€) 

MWh 

Megawatt 

NGEU 

NextGenerationEU 

R&I 

RES 

RRF 

RRPs 

SMEs 

TSI 

Research and innovation 

Renewable energy sources 

Recovery and Resilience Facility 

Recovery and Resilience Plans 

Small and medium-sized enterprises 

Technical Support Instrument 

4 

 
 
 
 
1.  Executive summary  

Two and a half years after its inception, the Recovery and Resilience Facility (‘RRF’) remains 
at the core of the European response to increase the resilience of Member States economies. 
Since the publication of the last annual report (March 2022), the economic and geo-political 
context has changed markedly. Russia’s unprovoked aggression against Ukraine led to a spike 
in energy prices in 2022, showcasing the vulnerabilities linked to the dependence on Russian 
fossil  fuels,  and  driving  inflation  to  levels  unseen  in  decades  and  causing  a  ‘cost  of  living’ 
crisis for many households. 

In  this  context,  the  RRF  had  to  adapt  to  address  these  new  challenges  and  incorporate  the 
experience  gained  over  two  years  with  the  implementation  of  this  innovative,  performance-
based instrument. Today, as we approach the middle point of the Facility’s short lifetime, this 
report takes stock of the progress made in the implementation and evolution of the Facility, 
from  the adoption of the RRF Regulation1  in  February 2021, through the amendment to  the 
RRF Regulation in February 2023 adding REPowerEU chapters to  Recovery and Resilience 
Plans (‘RRPs’)2, to the disbursement of the latest payments up to 1 September 2023. 

The  report  shows  that  major  progress  has  been  made  in  (i)  the  continuous 
implementation of the RRF, (ii) increasing the transparency around its implementation, 
and  (iii)  protecting  the  financial  interests  of  the  EU  by  stepping  up  control  and  audit 
efforts. 

The implementation of the RRF is well underway, within the tight constraints due to its 
lifespan. Until 1 September 2023, the Commission has received 31 payment requests from 19 
Member States and disbursed a total amount of EUR 153.4 billion. The Council has adopted 
the  positive  assessment  of  the  initial  plans  of  all  Member  States.  Furthermore,  the  positive 
assessment of four revised plans with REPowerEU chapters have already been adopted by the 
Council  and  16  revised  plans  are  currently  being  assessed  by  the  Commission.  The  report 
details  numerous  examples  of  concrete  reforms  and  investments  financed  by  the  RRF, 
contributing  to  the  six  policy  pillars  defined  in  the  RRF  Regulation,  including  the  green 
transition and the digital transformation.  

At  the  same  time,  the  Commission  is  assisting  Member  States  in  addressing 
implementation challenges, where they emerge. Some Member States are facing challenges 
in administering funds, partly due to administrative capacity issues or investment bottlenecks. 
Some  other  Member  States  are  facing  difficulties  in  implementing  the  RRPs  as  initially 
designed due to changed economic circumstances such as high inflation or supply bottlenecks. 
The  Commission  is  supporting  all  Member  States  to  accelerate  the  implementation  and 
revision of their plans, including through the Technical Support Instrument3.  

1 Regulation (EU) 2021/241 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 February 2021 establishing the Recovery 
and Resilience Facility, OJ L 57, 18.2.2021, p. 17. 
2 Regulation (EU) 2023/435 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 February 2023 amending Regulation (EU) 
2021/241 as regards REPowerEU chapters in recovery and resilience plans, OJ L63, 28.2.2023, p. 1. 
3 https://commission.europa.eu/funding-tenders/find-funding/eu-funding-programmes/technical-support-instrument_en  

5 

 
 
 
In  2023,  the  Commission  made  significant  efforts  to  increase  the  clarity  and 
transparency  around  the  Facility’s  implementation.  The  Commission  published,  on  21 
February 2023, its methodologies on (i) assessing the satisfactory fulfilment of milestones and 
targets and (ii) calculating the suspended amounts in case of non-fulfilment of a milestone or 
target.  Today,  jointly  with  this  report,  the  Commission  publishes  its  framework  for  dealing 
with  potential  situations  where  milestones  and  targets  initially  assessed  as  satisfactorily 
fulfilled by the Commission were subsequently reversed by the Member State. 

Furthermore, the amendments to the RRF Regulation require Member States to publish 
information  on  the  100  final  recipients  receiving  the  highest  amounts  of  RRF  funding. 
The Commission rapidly provided the necessary guidance, requesting Member States to make 
this  data  available  as  soon  as  possible  and  update  it  twice  per  year,  and  consolidated  the 
published information on the Recovery and Resilience Scoreboard. This information will also 
be used to populate the map on projects funded by the RRF, which was first published on 9 
March  2023  and  is  regularly  updated  since.  All  these  elements  taken  together  significantly 
enhance  accountability  of  the  Commission  decisions  relating  to  the  implementation  of  the 
RRF.  

In 2023, also taking into account the recommendations of the European Parliament, the 
Council and the European Court of Auditors, the Commission further strengthened the 
robustness of its control framework to provide additional assurance on the regular use 
of  RRF  funds  and  the  effective  protection  of  the  Union’s  financial  interests.  The 
Commission  has,  until  1  September  2023,  carried  out  14  risk-based  ex-post  audits  on 
milestones  and  targets  to  obtain  additional  assurance  that  the  information  provided  by  the 
Member  State  on  their  satisfactory  fulfilment  is  correct  (7  in  2022  and  7  in  2023).  After 
having verified the adequacy of the control systems of Member States to protect the financial 
interests of the Union at the moment of the RRP assessment, the Commission also conducted 
27 audits of Member States’ systems (16 in 2022 and 11 so far in 2023) and will have audited 
all Member States at least once by the end of 2023. Since 2023, a specific focus was put on 
Member States’ compliance obligations with public procurement and state aid rules pursuant 
to Article 22(2), point (a) of the RRF Regulation. The declaration of assurance on the RRF, 
which results from this control framework, has been fully aligned with those issued by other 
DGs as of 2022.  

The RRF will soon enter the second half of its lifetime, as an instrument that has proven 
its  ability  to  incentivise  structural  reforms,  amplify  the  impact  of  investments  and 
maintain  a  sufficient  level  of  flexibility  to  adapt  to  changing  circumstances.  Those 
achievements  originate  in  the  key  performance-based  feature  of  the  Facility,  linking 
disbursements  to  the  gradual  implementation  of  reforms  and  investments  through  agreed 
milestones  and  targets.  Those  achievements  would  not  have  been  possible  without  the 
ownership and determination of the Member States to deliver on their recovery and resilience 
plans, and the input of institutions such as the European Parliament and the European Court of 
Auditors and of social and local stakeholders.  

6 

 
 
However, the work is far from over and a challenging implementing period lies ahead. 
The ongoing revision of the national plans benefits from the vast experience gathered so far 
and will contribute to speed up the instrument’s implementation. Increased transparency in the 
implementation,  the  additional  REPowerEU  resources,  and  a  focus  on  unlocking  the 
administrative  capacity  of  Member  States  set  the  stage  for  further  acceleration  of  the 
implementation in 2024, and years beyond, until the end of 2026. 

7 

 
 
2.  State of play on the implementation of the RRF 

This report presents in detail the state of play in the implementation of the RRF (section 2), 
the contribution of the facility to the RRF objectives (section 3) and the state of play in the 
REPowerEU chapters (section 4). In annex, country fiches outline the progress for each RRP. 

The  information  provided  in  this  report  is  based  on  the  content  of  the  adopted  plans,  as 
assessed by the Commission, on the data reported by Member States until April 2023 as part 
of  their  bi-annual  reporting  obligations,  on  data  from  the  Recovery  and  Resilience 
Scoreboard4  as  of  1  September  2023  and  on  developments  in  the  implementation  of  the 
Facility until 1 September 20235, unless otherwise specified. 

2.1. State of play on the implementation of RRPs 

Adoption of the Recovery and Resilience Plans  

Since  the  publication  of  the  last  Annual  Report  on  1  March  2022,  the  Council  has 
adopted  the  five  remaining  Council  Implementing  Decisions  (CIDs)  on  the  RRPs  of 
Bulgaria  and  Sweden  on  4  May  2022,  Poland  on  17  June  2022,  the  Netherlands  on  4 
October  2022  and  Hungary  on  16  December  2022.  The  Commission  assessed  each  plan 
expediently in a consistent and transparent manner, following the 11 criteria set out in Article 
19(3)  of  the  RRF  Regulation.  During  the  assessment  process,  the  Commission  was  in  close 
contact  with  the  Member  States  to  conduct  a  comprehensive  assessment.  The  Commission 
supported Member States  to  put  forward ambitious plans with  clear and  realistic milestones 
and targets to monitor their progress during the implementation. With all the RRPs approved 
and  adopted,  all  attention  is  now  directed  towards  the  implementation  of  the  plans  and  the 
ongoing revisions. 

Operational arrangements 

The Commission has signed operational arrangements with 24 Member States so far. In 
line  with  the  RRF  Regulation,  these  bilateral  agreements  further  specify  the  modalities  for 
monitoring,  cooperation  and  aspects  related  to  implementation.  In  addition,  the  operational 
arrangements lay out in more detail the verification mechanism for each milestone and target, 
and where necessary, include additional monitoring steps to follow-up on the implementation 
of  the  plan.  To  promote  transparency,  the  Commission  makes  available  the  operational 
arrangements on its website6. 

The  conclusion  and  signing  of  the  operational  arrangements  are  key  steps  in  the 
implementation  of  RRPs.  Although  signed  operational  arrangements  are  not  needed  to 
receive pre-financing, they are a pre-condition for the Member State concerned to submit its 

4 https://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/recovery-and-resilience-scoreboard/index.html?lang=en  
5 The data in section 3 of this annual report reflects the latest recovery and resilience plans for Estonia and France adopted on 
16 June 2023 and 14 July 2023 respectively, but not the latest plans for Malta and Slovakia adopted on 14 July 2023 as data 
for these two Member States was not yet fully available.  
6 https://commission.europa.eu/business-economy-euro/economic-recovery/recovery-and-resilience-facility/country-pages_en  

8 

 
 
 
first payment request. Depending on the national framework of the Member State, the process 
for  concluding  the  operational  arrangements  can  take  longer  than  in  other  instances.  On  1 
September  2023,  only  three  Member  States  were  still  in  the  process  of  finalising  their 
operational arrangements or about to sign them (DE, NL, HU)7. 

Payment requests 

By  1  September  2023,  the  Commission  has  received  31  payment  requests  from  19 
Member States and disbursed a total amount of EUR 153.4 billion. This includes the EUR 
56.6 billion in RRF pre-financing granted to 21 Member States until 31 December 2021. EUR 
106.3 billion of the total amount disbursed to Member States concern non-repayable support 
and  EUR  47.1  billion  concern  loans.  Table  1  and  Table  2  provide  an  overview  of  the 
submission of payment requests by the Member States and the corresponding disbursements 
by the Commission, following a positive assessment of the milestones and targets covered by 
the respective payment request.  

Table 1: Processing of payment requests8 

Spain 
France 
Greece 
Italy 
Portugal 
Croatia 
Slovakia 
Spain 
Romania 
Latvia 
Italy 
Cyprus 
Bulgaria 
Croatia 
Portugal 
Greece  
Slovenia 
Slovakia 
Spain 
Czechia 
Lithuania 
Denmark 
Romania 

Requested amount 
EUR 10 bn 
EUR 7.4 bn 
EUR 3.6 bn 
EUR 21 bn 
EUR 1.1 bn 
EUR 700 mn 
EUR 398.7 mn 
EUR 12 bn 
EUR 2.6 bn 
EUR 201 mn 
EUR 21 bn 
EUR 85 mn 
EUR 1.37 bn 
EUR 700 mn 
EUR 1.8 bn 
EUR 3.56 bn 
EUR 49.6 mn 
EUR 708.8 mn 
EUR 6 bn 
EUR 928.2 mn 
EUR 542 mn 
EUR 301.5 mn 
EUR 2.8 bn 

Number of M&Ts 
52 
38 
15 
51 
38 
34 
14 
40 
21 
9 
45 
14 
22 
25 
20 
28 
12 
16 
29 
37 
33 
25 
51 

Malta  
Austria 
Luxembourg 
Italy 

EUR 52.3 mn 
EUR 700 mn 
EUR 25 mn 
EUR 19 bn 

19 
44 
26 
55 

Submission date 
11 November 2021 
26 November 2021 
29 December 2021 
30 December 2021 
25 January 2022 
15 March 2022 
29 April 2022 
30 April 2022 
31 May 2022 
17 June 2022 
29 June 2022 
28 July 2022 
31 August 2022 
19 September 2022 
30 September 2022 
30 September 2022 
20 October 2022 
25 October 2022 
11 November 2022 
25 November 2022 
30 November 2022 
16 December 2022 
16 December 2022 

19 December 2022 
22 December 2022 
28 December 2022 
30 December 2022 

Payment date 
27 December 2021 
4 March 2022 
8 April 2022 
13 April 2022 
9 May 2022 
28 June 2022 
29 July 2022 
29 July 2022 
27 October 2022 
7 October 2022 
8 November 2022 
2 December 2022 
16 December 2022 
16 December 2022 
8 February 2023 
19 January 2023 
20 April 2023 
22 March 2023 
31 March 2023 
22 March 2023 
10 May 2023 
26 April 2023 
Commission’s 
preliminary 
assessment adopted 
8 March 2023 
20 April 2023 
16 June 2023 
Commission’s 
preliminary 

7 For Germany, the operational arrangements have been signed by the Commission on 4 September. For Hungary, signature is 
expected in Q3 2023. For the Netherlands, signature will happen only once a revision of the plan is adopted. 
8 Cut-off date of 1 September 2023 

9 

 
 
 
 
Requested amount 

Number of M&Ts 

Submission date 

Payment date 

Greece 

Estonia 

Croatia 

France  

EUR 1.72 bn 

EUR 286 mn 

EUR 700 mn 

EUR 10.3 bn 

42 

29 

45 

55 

16 May 2023 

30 June 2023 

24 July 2023 

31 July 2023 

assessment adopted 
Commission’s 
assessment ongoing 
Commission’s 
assessment ongoing 
Commission’s 
assessment ongoing 
Commission’s 
assessment ongoing 

Note: Data is presented in chronological order of the payment request submission date and net of pre-financing.  
Source: European Commission 

Table 2: State of play on implementation of RRF payment requests 

E
B

G
B

Z
C

K
D

E
D

E
E

E
I

L
E

S
E

R
F

R
H

T
I

Y
C

V
L

T
L

U
L

U
H

T
M

L
N

T
A

L
P

T
P

O
R

I
S

K
S

I
F

E
S

  * 

  ▲ 

27 plans 
approved by the 
Commission and 
adopted by the 
Council 
21 pre-financing 
disbursed (EUR 
56.6 billion) 
24 Operational 
Arrangements 
signed 
31 payment 
requests 
submitted to the 
Commission 
25 payments 
disbursed (EUR 
96.8 billion) 
Note: * No pre-financing was requested by Ireland. ▲ As prerequisite for pre-financing, the CID had to be adopted by 31 
December 2021.  
Source: European Commission 

  3x  3x  2x  3x  3x 

  2x  2x 

  2x  2x 

  2x  3x 

  ▲ 

  ▲ 

  ▲ 

  2x 

  2x 

  2x 

  ▲ 

While  the  implementation  of  the  RRPs  is  broadly  on  track,  some  Member  States  are 
facing challenges in administering funds, due in part to limited administrative capacity 
or investment bottlenecks within the Facility’s tight timelines. The revisions of RRPs and 
the addition of REPowerEU chapters have also impacted the disbursement schedule of RRF 
funds, as the first half of 2023 has seen a slowdown in the submission of payment requests, 
with  Member  States  focusing  their  efforts  on  the  revision  of  plans  and  the  addition  of 
REPowerEU  chapters.  More  information  on  the  progress  in  implementing  milestones  and 
targets, based on the bi-annual reporting, is detailed in the next section.  

The  Commission  continues  to  underline  that  the  first  priority  remains  the  swift 
implementation  of 
the  2023  country-specific 
recommendations  (CSRs),  and  stands  ready  to  support  Member  States  as  they  deliver 
on their agreed reform and investment commitments. The successful revision of the plans 
in  2023  is  an  opportunity  for  Member  States  to  address  issues  related  to  administrative 

the  RRPs,  as  demonstrated 

in 

10 

 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
capacity,  increase  the  absorption  capacity  of  RRF  funds  and  catch  up  on  the  disbursement 
schedule.  This  involves  introducing  additional  reforms  and  investments  in  modified  RRPs 
aiming  to  address  specific  regulatory  hurdles  and  investment  bottlenecks  identified  in  the 
implementation  so  far.  This  also  comprises  measures  to  improve  the  organisation,  capacity 
and means of national administrations directly involved in the implementation of plans. These 
measures  can  rely  on  the  technical  assistance  from  the  Commission  provided  via  the 
Technical  Support  Instrument  (TSI).  23  Member  States  have  received  or  are  currently 
receiving  general  support  for  the  horizontal  aspects  of  RRP  implementation,  including  the 
support  for  revision  of  the  plans,  while  all  27  MS  are  benefiting  from  the  thematic  support 
linked to RRF measures’ implementation9. 

Progress in implementing milestones and targets 

In line with Article 27 of the RRF Regulation, Member States must report twice a year 
in the context of the European Semester on the progress made in the implementation of 
their  RRPs.  The  Commission  Delegated  Regulation  (EU)  2021/2106  further  specifies  this 
obligation, setting the deadlines for the bi-annual reporting at no later than by 30 April and 15 
October. Member States report their progress in achieving their milestones and targets due in 
the past and due twelve months into the future. Whilst the data is self-reported by the Member 
States  and  not  verified  by  the  Commission,  it  provides  a  comprehensive  stocktaking  on  the 
implementation  of  all  plans  and  enables  the  monitoring  of  progress  in  implementing  the 
RRPs. 

Member States continue to report good progress in their implementation of RRPs, with 
a  minority  of  milestones  and  targets  reported  as  not  yet  complete  or  delayed.  The  bi-
annual reporting round indicates that the vast majority of milestones and targets due by April 
2023  are  either  fulfilled10  or  reported  as  completed11  (Figure  1).  The  progress  of  upcoming 
milestones  and  targets  is  also  encouraging,  with  a  significant  number  of  milestones  and 
targets reported as on track12 or already completed (Figure 2). 

There is an increasing balance between the number of reforms and investments reported 
as fulfilled or completed. The progress of reforms – particularly the adoption of legal texts 
and  relevant  policy  preparations  –  was  more  prominent  in  previous  reporting  rounds,  as 
reforms  had  often  been  frontloaded  in  Member  States’  RRPs  to  build  the  framework  for 
subsequent  investment  projects  to  have  a  higher  impact.  Moreover,  the  completion  of 
investment-related  targets  such  as,  for  example,  the  construction  of  infrastructure  requires 
some  time,  and  such  targets  are  typically  less  represented  in  the  first  schedules  of  payment 
requests even if their actual implementation might have already started. However, progress on 
investment  is  now  more  visible  with  more  investment-  than  reform-related  milestones  and 

9 https://reform-support.ec.europa.eu/what-we-do/recovery-and-resilience-plans_en  
10 Milestones and targets which have already been assessed as satisfactorily fulfilled by the Commission in the context of a 
payment request have the status ‘fulfilled’. 
11  The  progress  status  of  each  backward-looking  milestone  and  target  (i.e.  those  planned  to  be  achieved  up  to  the  quarter 
before the reporting date) can be either ‘completed’ or ‘not completed’.  
12 The status of forward-looking milestones and targets (i.e. those planned to be achieved in the quarter of the reporting date 
and the three following quarters) milestones and targets can be ‘completed’, ‘on track’, or ‘delayed’. 

11 

 
 
 
targets being on track to be completed in the next 12 months (Figure 3). This is an expected 
development  in  the  RRF,  as  the  implementation  progresses  gradually  from  more  reform-
focussed to more investment-focussed milestones and targets. 

Figure 1: Progress of milestones and targets 
due in the past, for Q1 2020 to Q1 2023 

Figure 2: Progress of milestones and targets 
due in the future, for Q2 2023 to Q2 2024 

1500

1000

500

685

T
&
M

f
o

r
e
b
m
u
N

1155

0

Fulfilled

Completed

Source: European Commission. 

422

Not
completed

T
&
M

f
o

r
e
b
m
u
N

1000

800

600

400

200

0

874

81

149

Completed

On track

Delayed

Figure 3: Progress of reforms- and investment-related milestones and targets  

0

200

Fulfilled

269

400

419

600

551

605

Completed - due in the past

Not completed

On track

197

225

364

545

Completed - due in the future

Delayed

48
33

44

109

Source: European Commission. 

Investment

Reform

Milestones and targets appear to be comparably implemented across all six RRF policy 
pillars13, according to the bi-annual reporting data. The most progress have been reported for 
measures  contributing  to  pillar  3  on  ‘smart,  sustainable  and  inclusive  growth’,  pillar  5  on 

13 This chart shows estimated number of milestones and targets based on the pillar tagging methodology for the Recovery and 
Resilience  Scoreboard.  Based  on  the  Commissions’  methodology,  each  measure  is  tagged  under  one  primary  and  one 
secondary policy area, based on a list of policy areas, linked to the six pillars. Consequently, each milestone and target are 
related to several pillars. 

12 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
‘health, and economic, social and institutional resilience’ and pillar 4 on ‘social and territorial 
cohesion’ (Figure 4). These pillars – along with pillar 1 on ‘green transition’ – are supported 
by  the  highest  number  of  measures,  so  it  is  unsurprising  that  they  experience  the  most 
progress.  

Figure 4: Progress of milestones and targets per RRF Pillar  

0

500

1000

1500

Green transition

Digital transformation

Smart, sustainable and inclusive growth

Social and territorial cohesion

Health, and economic, social and institutional
resilience

Policies for the next generation

Fulfilled

Completed (not assessed)

On track

Delayed

Not completed

Source: European Commission. 

Whilst the number of M&Ts reported as delayed  is  overall small, the  areas14  of policy 
preparation,  new  public  services  and  processes,  as  well  as  infrastructure  upgrades 
appear  to  experience  more  delays  in  implementation  (Figure  5),  based  on  the  bi-annual 
reporting. As these three areas cover a large number of milestones and targets in this reporting 
period, the delays might not be significant or unproportionate compared to the other areas. 

When  providing  explanation  for  the  delays,  Member  States  reported  difficulties  in 
meeting  the  deadline  for  signatures  of  contracts  and  unexpected  time  lags  in 
construction  works.  In  general,  Member  States  have  not  consistently  provided  detailed 
explanations for delays and did not generally consider them substantial. 

Whilst  the  indicative  target  dates  of  some  milestones  and  targets  have  been  delayed, 
others  have  been  brought  forward.  According  to  the  latest  round  of  bi-annual  reporting 
data, the delays in the target date for implementation reported by Member States mostly affect 
milestones and targets that should have initially been implemented in 2022 (Table 3), with a 
median  period  of  181  days  of  reported  delays.  Milestones  and  targets  that  were  initially 
planned to be implemented in 2023 appear, at the moment, to experience fewer delays. It is 
also  worth  noting  that,  for  several  milestones  and  targets,  the  target  date  of  implementation 
was brought forward15. 

14  The  classification  of  milestones  and  targets  in  this  paragraph  was  developed  by  the  European  Commission  and  is  not 
reported as such by the Member States in the bi-annual reporting exercise. 
15 Such M&Ts’ reported target date of implementation is at least one quarter (i.e. 91 days) earlier than initially envisaged in 
the Member State’s CID.  

13 

 
 
 
Figure 5: Type of delayed milestones and targets 

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Delayed

Non-delayed

Note: The classification of milestones and targets in the above figure was developed by the European Commission and is not 
reported as such by the Member States in the bi-annual reporting exercise. 

Source: European Commission. 

Table 3: Number and median period of M&Ts with a delayed or early reported target date of 
implementation, for reforms and investments 

Initial target date of implementation 
2022 
135 
181 

2023 
40 
182.5 

2021 
51 
91 

2020 
8 
48.5 

2024 
2 
320 

0 
n/a 

32 
120 

139 
181 

59 
274 

7 
275 

M&Ts for which 
Member States 
delayed the reported 
target date of 
implementation 

Reforms 

Investments 

Number of M&Ts 
Median period of 
delay (in days) 
Number of M&Ts 
Median period of 
delay (in days) 
Number of M&Ts 
Median period of 
advance (in days) 
Number of M&Ts 
Median period of 
advance (in days) 

5 
115 

Reforms 

M&Ts for which 
Member States 
brought the reported 
target date of 
implementation 
forward  
Note: This table is based on self-reported data provided in the context of the bi-annual reporting, in which Member States 
report on the progress of forward-looking milestones and targets up to Q2 2024. As a result, no data is available on potential 
delays  for  milestones  and  targets  to  be  implemented  in  2025  and  2026.  Milestones  and  targets  are  considered  to  be 
implemented in advance when they are implemented in the quarter previous to the one initially targeted. 
Source: European Commission. 

Investments 

4 
458 

20 
318 

7 
131 

21 
365 

0 
n/a 

1 
366 

20 
149 

20 
246 

14 
308 

Performance of the Facility based on the common indicators  

The common indicators show the progress  in the implementation of the RRPs towards 
common objectives and the overall performance of the RRF.  While in the framework of 
the  RRF,  the  fulfilment  of  milestones  and  targets  constitutes  the  key  metric  for  the 
implementation of each RRP, the common indicators represent a set of 14 indicators that were 

14 

 
 
 
 
 
established  by  Commission  Delegated  Regulation  2021/210616  on  28  September  2021  to 
display the overall performance and progress of the Facility towards its objectives17.  

Member States report bi-annually on their progress towards the common indicators. As 
per the delegated Regulation 2021/2106, Member States report by 28 February (covering the 
reporting period of July and December of the previous year) and by 31 August (covering the 
reporting period of January to June of the same year). The Commission publishes the common 
indicators  data  on  the  Recovery  and  Resilience  Scoreboard18,  after  performing  a  few  data 
checks  to  ensure  the  comparability  of  the  data19.  In  line  with  the  requirements  of  the 
Commission  Delegated  Regulation,  where  data  are  published  at  the  level  of  each  Member 
State, these are presented in relative terms.  

The data reported by the Member States so far show that the RRF has already achieved 
considerable  progress  towards  the  common  indicators  and  across  all  policy  pillars.  To 
date, the  data of three  reporting rounds have been reviewed  and  published on the Recovery 
and Resilience Scoreboard, covering the progress achieved in the period from February 2020 
to December 2022. Since the common indicators are designed to capture progress reached on 
the ground, earlier stages of implementation of measures in the RRPs are often not reflected 
in  the  data.  Figure  6  shows  the  current  state  of  progress  towards  the  common  indicators, 
reflecting  important  achievements  towards  the  objectives  of  the  Facility  and  the  EU’s  key 
priorities. 

For  instance,  about  22  million  Megawatt  (‘MWh’)  of  savings  in  annual  energy 
consumption have already been achieved by December 2022 thanks to support from the 
RRF  (Figure  7).  Reducing  our  energy  consumption  and  increasing  energy  efficiency  are 
among the EU’s top priorities and a pre-condition for the clean-energy transition and common 
indicator (1) captures the reduction in annual primary energy consumption achieved with RRF 
support.  For  context,  the  energy  savings  achieved  so  far  approximately  correspond  to  the 
installed electricity capacity in Belgium. Examples are reductions of energy consumption in 
buildings, schools, hospitals or in enterprises.  

Until  December  2022,  the  RRF  had  helped  1.43  million  enterprises  either  through 
monetary or in-kind support (Figure 8). The COVID-19 crisis has had a heavy impact on 
the  entire  EU  economy  and  small  and  medium-sized  enterprises  (‘SMEs’)  have  particularly 
suffered from the crisis. Looking at the support provided to boost EU economies and to help 
enterprises,  common  indicator  (9)  shows  the  number  of  enterprises  supported  by  measures 
under the RRF.  

16 Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2106 of 28 September 2021 on supplementing Regulation (EU) 2021/241 of 
the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Recovery and Resilience Facility by setting out the common 
indicators and the detailed elements of the recovery and resilience scoreboard. 
17 They cover elements which are common to most RRPs, but they are not designed to capture all aspects of the plans, in 
view of their significant heterogeneity and limited number. 
18 See https://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/recovery-and-resilience-scoreboard/index.html  
19 The Commission has no basis to audit or verify the quality of the data submitted by Member States nor to alter or refuse 
specific reporting by Member States. 

15 

 
 
 
Figure 6: State of progress towards the common indicators20 

(1) Savings in annual 
primary energy 
consumption

Total: 22.132.138 
MWh/year

(2) Additional operational 
capacity installed for 
renewable energy

Total: 1.061 MWh 
(hydrogen 0 MWh)

(3) Alternative fuels 
infrastructure 
(refuelling/recharging 
points)

Total: 512.543

(4) Population benefitting 
from protection measures 
against floods, wild fires, 
and other climate related 
natural disasters

Total: 5.875.129

(5) Additional dwellings 
with internet access 
provided via very high 
capacity networks

(6) Enterprises supported 
to develop digital 
products, services and 
application processes

Total: 17.787.329

Total: 379.435

(7) Users of new and 
upgraded public digital 
services, products and 
processes

Total: 247.798.959

(8) Researchers working 
in supported research 
facilities

Total: 5.211

(9) Enterprises supported 
(of which: small –
including micro, medium, 
large)

Total: 1.429.820

(10) Number of 
participants in education 
or training

(11) Number of people in 
employment or engaged 
in job searching activities 

(12) Capacity of new or 
modernised health care 
facilities

Total: 6.888.121

Total: 688.091

Total: 18.646.974 

(13) Classroom capacity 
of new or modernised
childcare and education 
facilities

Total: 555.062

(14) Number of young 
people aged 15-29 years 
receiving support

Total: 4.115.196

Source: Recovery and Resilience Scoreboard. 

Figure 7: Evolution of savings in annual primary energy consumption in MWh per year 

)
s
n
o
i
l
l
i

m
n
i
(
h
W
M

25

20

15

10

5

0

until 12/2021

2022-S1
Year/Semester

2022-S2

Source: Recovery and Resilience Scoreboard. 

20 The data in the below figure corresponds to the data provided by the Member States in the February 2023 reporting round, 
covering the period from February 2020 and December 2022. For more information, please consult the Recovery and 
Resilience Scoreboard. 

16 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 8: Evolution of number of enterprises supported 

)
s
d
n
a
s
u
o
h
t
n
i
(

s
e
s
i
r
p
r
e
t
n
E
f
o

r
e
b
m
u
N

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

until 12/2021

2022-S1
Year/Semester

2022-S2

Source: Recovery and Resilience Scoreboard. 

In  the  second  half  of  2022,  over  4  million  people  have been  trained with  RRF  support 
(Figure 9). The COVID-19 crisis also heavily disrupted EU education and training systems, 
and common indicator (10) reflects the contribution of the RRF to education and training and 
the development of skills, by displaying the number of participants in education and training 
due  to  support  received  through  RRF  measures.  Reforms  and  investments  in  education  and 
training  are  crucial  to  prepare  citizens  for  today’s  challenges,  in  particular  the  digital  and 
green transitions, and to ensure that they have the possibility to develop the skills they need. 
A  particular  focus  is  placed  on  trainings  to  improve  digital  skills,  in  light  of  their  ever-
growing importance on the labour market and in society.  

Figure 9: Evolution of participants in education or training  

 5.000.000

s
n
o
s
r
e
P
f
o

r
e
b
m
u
N

 4.000.000

 3.000.000

 2.000.000

 1.000.000

 -

until 12/2021

2022-S1

2022-S2

Digital Skills

Other

Source: Recovery and Resilience Scoreboard. 

17 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2.2. Increased transparency in the assessment of payment requests 

RRF  funds  can  only  be  disbursed  on  the  condition  of  satisfactorily  fulfilment  of  the 
relevant milestones and targets covered by the payment request, under Article 24 of the 
RRF Regulation. The Commission’s assessment of the milestones and targets is a core feature 
of  the  RRF  and  requires  detailed  analysis  to  determine  if  the  Member  States  have  fulfilled 
their obligations in a satisfactory way. 

In  its  Communication  on  the  two-year  anniversary  of  the  RRF  published  on  21 
February  202321,  the  Commission  increased  predictability  and  transparency  by 
presenting  the  implementation  tools  used  during  the  assessment  of  payment  requests. 
The  Communication  and  its  annexes  provide  a  detailed  description  of  both  the  framework 
used for assessing milestones and targets and the payment suspension methodology. 

Framework for assessing milestones and targets under the RRF Regulation 

The  Commission  published  in  February  2023  its  framework  for  assessing  the 
satisfactory  fulfilment  of  the  milestones  and  targets,  to  support  national  authorities, 
stakeholders,  and  the  wider  public,  in  their  understanding  of  how  the  implementation  of 
measures supported by the RRF is evaluated before each disbursement.  

The satisfactorily fulfilment of milestones and targets is assessed on the basis of the CIDs 
approving the RRPs. The Commission relies on the description of each milestone and target 
in  light  of  its  context  and  purpose  to  determine  the  requirements  that  Member  States  must 
fulfil.  It  then  establishes,  based  on  the  due  justifications  provided  by  the  Member  States, 
whether a specific milestone or target has been satisfactorily fulfilled. In a limited number of 
circumstances and in line with the application of the de minimis principle, minimal deviations 
linked  to  the  amounts,  formal  requirements,  timing  or  substance  can  be  accepted.  The  full 
methodology representing the framework that the Commission is relying upon for conducting 
the assessment of payment request is presented in Annex I  to the Communication published 
on 21 February 202322. 

Payment suspension process 

In  February  2023,  the  Commission  also  published  its  methodology  to  determine  the 
amount  to  be  suspended  if  a  milestone  or  target  is  not  satisfactorily  fulfilled,  in  full 
respect  of  the  principles  of  equal  treatment  and  proportionality.  The  RRF  Regulation 
caters for exceptional circumstances where Member States might be confronted with delays in 
the  implementation  of  measures,  affecting  the  timely  fulfilment  of  some  milestones  and 
targets.  These  situations  should  not  prevent  payments  from  being  made  for  milestones  and 
targets that have been satisfactorily fulfilled23. The Regulation thus provides for a mechanism 

21 See COM(2023) 99 final. 
22 See COM(2023) 99 final. 
23 Partial suspension is not possible in case of non-fulfilment of milestones or targets related to a Member State’s control 
system, which are necessary for the protection of the financial interests of the Union. Such a case always leads to the 
suspension of the full instalment and all future instalments, until the non-fulfilment is remedied. 

18 

 
 
 
to give Member States additional time (up to six months) to implement the relevant milestone 
or target. In such situation, the RRF Regulation provides the possibility for the Commission to 
suspend  payments  partially  or  fully,  thereby  also  ensuring  compliance  with  the  principle  of 
sound financial management.  

The payment suspension allows Member States to submit a payment request even if not 
all milestones and targets are fulfilled yet. The suspension procedure (Figure 10) provides 
time for Member States to fulfil the relevant milestones and targets that are considered as not 
fulfilled  within  six  months  after  the  adoption  of  a  suspension  decision.  Ultimately,  if  the 
Member  State  is  not  able  to  fulfil  the  relevant  milestone  or  target  within  this  six-month 
period,  its  financial  contribution  or  loan  support  will  be  permanently  reduced,  in  line  with 
Article  24(6)  of  the  RRF  Regulation.  The  full  methodology  detailing  the  calculation  of  the 
amount  to  be  suspended  is  presented  in  Annex  II  to  the  Communication  published  on  21 
February 2023. 

In 2023, the Commission encountered the first cases of non-satisfactory fulfilment24. In 
each case, the Commission outlined in a letter to the concerned Member State the reason why 
the  milestones  or  targets  were  considered  as  non-fulfilled  and  the  associated  amount  to  be 
suspended  in  line  with  the  procedures  foreseen  in  the  RRF  Regulation.  It  is  the  concerned 
Member  State’s  prerogative  to  share  this  information  with  the  Economic  and  Financial 
Committee (EFC). So far, the Member States concerned have shared their letter with the EFC.  

Figure 10: Process for the payment suspension 

Member State submits a payment request to the Commission

Commission assesses the satisfactory fulfilment of all milestones and targets covered by the 
payment request and provides its findings to the Council (Economic and Financial Committee)

Member State is informed about the negative assessment concerning the relevant milestones and 
targets

Commission proceeds with a partial payment to the Member State and the six-month suspension 
procedure starts

Member State has six months to take the necessary measures and address shortcomings to 
ensure satisfactory fulfilment

Source: European Commission 

2.3. Reversal of milestones and targets under the RRF 

In  accordance  with  the  second  sentence  of  Article  24(3)  of  the  RRF  Regulation,  “[t]he 
satisfactory  fulfilment  of  milestones  and  targets  shall  presuppose  that  measures  related  to 
previously  satisfactorily  fulfilled  milestones  and  targets  have  not  been  reversed  by  the 
Member State concerned”.  

24 For the Lithuanian payment request, see https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_23_1286. 

19 

 
 
 
Today, jointly with this report, the Commission publishes its framework for the application of 
this provision (see Annex II). The framework addresses a recommendation from the European 
Court of Auditors25 and provides legal clarity and transparency on the process to be followed 
in case of a reversal, ensuring the continued implementation of the RRF and protection of the 
financial interests of the EU. The Commission can review and amend this methodology as it 
gathers more experience with its application.  

2.4. Revision of RRPs 

The REPowerEU plan recognises that the RRF can play an important role in achieving 
secure, affordable and clean energy and the amended RRF Regulation entered into force 
in  February  2023,  as  part  of  the  Commission’s  response  to  the  recent  energy  and 
geopolitical developments. The RRF Regulation was thus amended in order to support new 
or scaled-up reforms and investments dedicated to diversifying energy supplies (in particular 
fossil fuels), increase energy savings, accelerate the clean energy transition and ultimately to 
increase the resilience, security and sustainability of the Union’s energy system. To be able to 
use the additional funds, the amended RRF Regulation invites Member States to revise their 
RRPs to add new or ‘scaled-up’ energy-related reforms and investments through a dedicated 
‘REPowerEU  chapter’.  The  amended  Regulation  also  introduces  a  set  of  REPowerEU 
objectives that these added measures should achieve (see Article 21(c) of the amended RRF 
Regulation).  

The  swift  implementation  of  the  RRPs  remains  the  first  priority  and  revisions  of  the 
RPPs and submission of the REPowerEU chapters should not pre-empt Member States 
from  respecting  the  timelines  foreseen  in  the  CIDs.  Member  States  should  continue  to 
undertake  all  possible  efforts  to  submit  payment  requests  on  time  and  ensure  progress  with 
reforms and investments, allowing for a timely disbursement of funds. 

Since the entry into force of the amended RRF Regulation in February 2023, 20 Member 
States  submitted  their  modified  RRPs  along  with  REPowerEU  chapters,  which  will 
contribute  to  the  transition  of  Member  States  towards  renewable  energy  sources,  increase 
energy efficiency and decrease Europe’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels.  

State of play of modification of RRPs and submission of REPowerEU chapters 

Member States can submit a reasoned request to the Commission to make a proposal to 
amend  or  replace  their  existing  RRPs  under  four  grounds  for  revisions26.  Firstly, 
Member  States  should  propose  new  or  ‘scaled-up’  energy-related  reforms  and  investments 
through  a  dedicated  ‘REPowerEU  chapter’.  Secondly,  Member  States  can,  under  Article 
18(2),  propose  to  adjust  upwards  or  downwards  their  measures  to  factor  in  the  updated 
maximum financial contribution published on 30 June 2022. Thirdly, Member States have the 
possibility to request an amendment of their plan if one or more milestones and targets in their 

25 Special report 07/2023: Design of the Commission’s control system for the RRF  
26 For further information on the process of modifying existing plans and the modalities for preparing REPowerEU chapters, 
see the Commission Notice Guidance on Recovery and Resilience Plans in the context of REPowerEU (2023/C 80/01) 

20 

 
 
 
RRP are no longer achievable due to objective circumstances, in line with Article 21 of the 
RRF Regulation. Finally, Member States had until 31 August 2023 to request support under 
the  loan  component  of  the  RRF  and  to  revise  their  plans  accordingly,  submitting  them  for 
assessment by the Commission. More information on the loan component is provided in the 
next section. 

By  1  September  2023,  the  Commission  has  received  25  modified  RRPs  and  20 
REPowerEU chapters (Table 4). Eight modified RRPs (Germany, Estonia, Ireland, France, 
Luxembourg,  Malta,  Slovakia  and  Finland),  four  of  which  include  REPowerEU  chapters 
(Estonia, France, Malta and Slovakia) were adopted by the Council. At the time of preparation 
of  this  annual  report,  the  Commission  was  assessing  the  modifications  proposed  by  16 
Member States. Table 5 outlines the legal bases used by Member States to amend their RRPs, 
in line with the RRF Regulation. 

Table 4: Overview table submission of modified RRPs and REPowerEU chapters27 

Date of 
Commission’s 
positive assessment 
Assessment ongoing 

Assessment ongoing 
Assessment ongoing 
17 January 2023 
12 May 2023 
26 June 2023 
Assessment ongoing 
Assessment ongoing 
26 June 2023 
Assessment ongoing 
28 July 2023 
Assessment ongoing 
Assessment ongoing 

Assessment ongoing 
9 December 2022 
Assessment ongoing 
26 June 2023 
Assessment ongoing 
Assessment ongoing 
Assessment ongoing 
Assessment ongoing 

Assessment ongoing 
26 June 2023 
28 February 2023 
Assessment ongoing 

Date of adoption by 
Council 

14 February 2023 
16 June 2023 
14 July 2023 

14 July 2023 

Not adopted yet 

17 January 2023 

14 July 2023 

14 July 2023 
7 March 2023 

Date of submission 

REPowerEU 
Chapter submitted 

Belgium 
Bulgaria 
Czechia 
Denmark 
Germany 
Estonia 
Ireland 
Greece 
Spain 
France 
Croatia 

Italy 

20 July 2023 

30 June 2023  
31 May 2023 
9 December 2022 
9 March 2023 
22 May 2023 
31 August 2023 
6 June 2023 
20 April 2023 
31 August 2023 
11 July 2023 
7 August 2023 
1 September 2023 

30 June 2023 
11 November 2022 
31 August 2023 
26 April 2023 
6 July 2023 
14 July 2023 
31 August 2023 
26 May 2023 

Cyprus 
Latvia 
Lithuania 
Luxembourg 
Hungary 
Malta 
Netherlands 
Austria 
Poland 
Portugal 
Romania 
Slovenia 
Slovakia 
Finland 
Sweden 
Source: European Commission 

14 July 2023 
26 April 2023 
26 January 2023 
24 August 2023 

27 Cut-off date of 1 September 2023 (inclusive). 

Yes 

Yes 
Yes 
No 
Yes 
No 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 
No 
Yes 
Yes 

Yes 
No 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 

Yes 
Yes 
No 
Yes 

21 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table 5: Legal basis used by Member States in modifying their RRPs 

Addition of 
REPowerEU chapter 
(Article 21c) 

Adjustment 
following the update 
of the maximum 
financial contribution 
(Article 18(2)) 

Amendment due to 
objective 
circumstances 
(Article 21) 

Addition of measures 
to take up additional 
RRF loans (Article 
14) 

● 

● 

● 
● 

● 
● 
● 
● 
● 
● 

Belgium 
Bulgaria 
Czechia 
Denmark 
Germany 
Estonia 
Ireland 
Greece 
Spain 
France 
Croatia 
Italy 
Cyprus 
Latvia 
Lithuania 
Luxembourg 
Hungary 
Malta 
Netherlands 
Austria 
Poland 
Portugal 
Romania 
Slovenia 
Slovakia 
Finland 
Sweden 
● 
Source: European Commission 

● 
● 
● 
● 
● 
● 

● 
● 

● 

● 

● 

● 

● 
● 
● 
● 
● 

● 
● 

● 

● 
● 

● 
● 
● 
● 

● 

● 

● 
● 
● 
● 
● 
● 
● 
● 
● 

● 

● 
● 
● 
● 
● 
● 

● 
● 

● 

● 

● 
● 

● 

● 

● 

● 
● 

● 

Revised non-repayable support under the RRF  

Under  Article  18(2)  of  the  RRF  Regulation,  Member  States  can  update  their  RRPs  to 
factor  in  the  updated  maximum  financial  contribution  published  on  30  June  2022. 
Member States who have a decreased maximum financial contribution can revise their plans 
accordingly. Member States who have an increased maximum financial contribution can use 
these additional resources to fund investments and reforms included in their revised plans or 
REPowerEU chapter. Table 6 below provides an overview of Member States’ change in non-
repayable financial support under Article 18. 

Table 6: Change in non-repayable financial support under Article 18 of the RRF Regulation 

Belgium 
Bulgaria 
Czechia 
Denmark 
Germany 
Estonia 

Change in non-repayable financial support under 
Article 18 (in EUR, current prices) 

-1,400,569,368 
-578,533,524 
603,614,884 
-122,251,741 
2,405,023,531 
-106,027,582 

22 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Change in non-repayable financial support under 
Article 18 (in EUR, current prices) 

-74,597,916 
-343,234,449 
7,701,317,190 
-1,919,823,196 
-785,114,933 
143,242,804 
-90,187,539 
-128,150,411 
-125,059,297 
-10,834,458 
-1,363,094,805 
-58,127,595 
-1,253,935,169 
289,454,205 
-1,330,690,569 
1,633,096,593 
-2,119,187,698 
-285,970,648 
-322,838,535 
-263,289,938 
-107,279,840 

Ireland 
Greece 
Spain 
France 
Croatia 
Italy 
Cyprus 
Latvia 
Lithuania 
Luxembourg 
Hungary 
Malta 
Netherlands 
Austria 
Poland 
Portugal 
Romania 
Slovenia 
Slovakia 
Finland 
Sweden 
Source: European Commission 

Loans under the RRF  

To finance new investments and reforms included in the REPowerEU chapter, Member 
States  can  also  benefit  from  the  highly  favourable  financing  conditions  of  RRF  loans, 
which  they  had  to  request  by  31  August  2023.  Table  7  below  provides  an  overview  of  the 
requests  (including  the  amount  of  loans)  submitted  by  Member  State  by  the  legal  deadline. 
This  information  was  also  shared  with  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  on  1 
September 2023. 

Table 7: Loans requested by Member States by 31 August 2023  

Amount of 
committed loans 
under first RRPs (in 
EUR, current prices) 

Amount of additional 
requested loans with 
revision of RRPs (in 
EUR, current prices) 
 264,200,000  

Amount of total loans 
to be committed* (in 
EUR, current prices) 

Meeting or exceeding 
the 6.8% of GNI 
ceiling 

 264,200,000  

Belgium 
Bulgaria 
Czechia 
Denmark 
Germany 
Estonia 
Ireland 
Greece 
Spain 
France 
Croatia 
Italy 
Cyprus 
Latvia 
Lithuania 
Luxembourg 

 818,100,000  

  818,100,000  

 12,727,538,920  

 5,000,000,000  
 84,267,050,000  

 17,727,538,920  
 84,267,050,000  

 122,601,810,400  
 200,320,000  

 4,442,508,187  

 4,442,508,187  
 122,601,810,400  
 200,320,000  

 1,722,000,000  

 1,722,000,000  

23 

 No  
 No  
 No  
 No  
 No  
 No  
 No  
 Yes  
 No  
 No  
 Yes  
 Yes  
 No  
 No  
 No  
 No  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Amount of 
committed loans 
under first RRPs (in 
EUR, current prices) 

Amount of additional 
requested loans with 
revision of RRPs (in 
EUR, current prices) 
 3,920,000,000  

Amount of total loans 
to be committed* (in 
EUR, current prices) 

Meeting or exceeding 
the 6.8% of GNI 
ceiling 

 3,920,000,000  

 23,034,803,518  
 3,191,756,353  

 11,506,500,000  
 2,699,000,000  
 14,942,153,000  
 705,370,000  

Hungary 
Malta 
Netherlands 
Austria 
Poland 
Portugal 
Romania 
Slovenia 
Slovakia 
Finland 
Sweden 
EU 27 
Note: *The loan requests submitted by 31 August 2023 are still to be assessed by the Commission in line with Article 19 of 
the RRF Regulation and the revised plans to be approved by the Council. This table therefore only gives a preliminary view 
of what the total amount of loans committed under the RRF could be.  
Source: European Commission 

 34,541,303,518  
 5,890,756,353  
 14,942,153,000  
 1,292,370,000  

 No  
 No  
 No  
 No  
 Yes  
 No  
 Yes  
 No  
 No  
 No  
 No  

 292,630,110,378  

 165,382,692,320  

 127,247,418,058  

 587,000,000  

Under  REPowerEU,  Member  States  will  be  able  to  receive  pre-financing  in  two 
tranches,  between  2023  and  2024.  This  will  be  possible  after  submitting  the  REPowerEU 
chapter, provided that the relevant  CIDs are adopted by the Council by 31 December 2023. 
For  measures  included  in  the  REPowerEU  chapters,  Member  States  will  be  able  to  request 
pre-financing of up to 20% of the additional REPowerEU funding sources from the Emissions 
Trading  System  (‘ETS’)  allowances  and  the  transfers  from  Brexit  Adjustment  Reserve 
(‘BAR’),  the  increased  allocation  under  the  RRF  as  updated  by  June  2022,  and  under  the 
remaining RRF loan component.  

2.5. State of play on financing the RRF 

State of play of the NextGenerationEU Funding 

Under  NextGenerationEU,  the  Commission  can  raise  up  to  EUR  806.9  billion between 
mid-2021  and  2026  through  the  issuance  of  EU-Bonds.  This  makes  the  EU  one  of  the 
largest issuers of euro-denominated debt in this period. Despite market volatility over the past 
year, the Commission was able to meet in a timely manner all its disbursement commitments 
under NextGenerationEU and continue to pursue its objectives of raising funds in the markets 
in an effective and efficient way.  

In June 2022, the Commission announced its funding plan for the period June to end-
December 2022. In line with this funding plan, the Commission raised an additional EUR 50 
billion  in  long-term  funding  for  NextGenerationEU,  complemented  by  short-term  EU-Bills 
issuances.  The  bonds  issued  were  a  combination  of  conventional  and  green  bonds,  in  full 
respect of the NextGenerationEU green bond framework. These transactions have brought the 
total  outstanding  amount  of  NextGenerationEU  bonds  to  EUR  171  billion,  of  which  EUR 

24 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
36.5 billion were raised by issuing green bonds. The total amount of EU-Bills outstanding at 
the end of December was EUR 17 billion.28  

In December 2022, the Commission announced its funding plan for the period January 
to end-June 2023, which was comprised of long-term funding operations of up to EUR 
80 billion. Eventually, EUR 78 billion in EU-Bonds was issued, with an average maturity of 
around 14 years. In the first half of 2023, the Commission also issued 3-month and 6-month 
EU-Bills  through  bi-monthly  auctions  to  meet  short-term  funding  needs,  with  EUR  17.9 
billion in EU-Bills outstanding at the end of June 2023. Twelve auctions were used to issue 24 
EU-Bills, with an average size of around EUR 1 billion each.  

On the back of these successful issuances, the EU has been able to continue the smooth 
funding  of  Member  States’  RRPs  through  timely  disbursements  of  the  proceeds.  The 
Commission  made  all  disbursements  to  Member  States  under  the  RRF  as  soon  as  they  fell 
due,  on  average  within  six  working  days  after  the  authorisation  of  the  disbursement.  No 
delays were experienced. 

Green Bond framework 

In  2020  the  Commission  announced  that  30%  of  NextGenerationEU  (NGEU)  bonds 
would  be  issued  as  green  bonds.  This  demonstrates  the  Commission's  commitment  to 
sustainable finance, bringing a new highly-rated and liquid green asset to the market, giving 
access  to  green  investments  for  a  wide  range  of  investors,  and  strengthened  the  role  of  the 
European Union and of the euro in the sustainable finance markets. 

The  NextGenerationEU  green  bond  proceeds  finance  the  share  of  climate-relevant 
expenditure in the RRF. Every Member State has to dedicate at least 37% of the total value 
of  their  national  RRP  to  climate-relevant  investments  and  reforms.  Member  States  have 
exceeded this target, with the estimated climate expenditure now amounting to about 40%.  

The  Commission  has  issued  its  first  NextGenerationEU  green  bond  in  October  2021. 
Through  this  15-year  bond,  the  Commission  raised  EUR  12  billion,  making  it  the  world's 
largest green bond transaction to date. 

NextGenerationEU  green  bonds  expenditure  relate  so  far  mainly  to  energy  efficiency 
(47.6% of allocated expenditures) and clean transport and infrastructure (42%). Climate 
change  adaptation  is  the  third  biggest  category  of  expenditure  (with  5.6%  of  expenditures) 
among nine categories of expenditure to which NextGenerationEU green bonds proceeds can 
be allocated.  

28  EU-Bonds  are  the  Commission’s  main  funding  instrument  under  its  unified  funding  approach.  They  have 
maturities of 3 years and above. The Commission issues EU-Bonds with benchmark maturities (3, 5, 7, 10, 15, 
20,  25,  30  years)  to  implement  its  funding  plan.  The  Commission  started  issuing  EU-Bills,  securities  with  a 
shorter maturity of below one year, in September 2021. The EU-Bills programme gives extra flexibility to the 
Commission as an issuer, and is supporting the liquidity of its securities. EU-Bills have maturities between 3-6 
months 

25 

 
 
 
2.6. Controls and audit in the implementation of the RRF 

The RRF is a performance-based instrument. Payments by the Commission to Member 
States are based on the satisfactory fulfilment of pre-defined milestones and targets set 
out  in  the  RRPs.  For  each  RRP,  the  CID  establishes  the  associated  set  of  milestones  and 
targets and the relevant amount for each instalment. As a result, the legality and regularity of 
the payments under the RRF is solely based on the satisfactory fulfilment of milestones and 
targets. Member States are the beneficiaries of the RRF funds, which, once disbursed, enter 
the national budget. 

The  RRF  control  framework  is  tailored  to  the  unique  nature  of  the  RRF  as  an  EU 
spending programme and is built upon two main pillars: on the one hand, the legality and 
regularity  of  transactions,  which  is  the  main  responsibility  of  the  Commission,  and  on  the 
other  hand  the  protection  of  the  financial  interests  of  the  Union,  whose  responsibility  lies 
mainly with the Member States but on which the Commission also carries out specific checks.  

The  Commission  has  further  strengthened  the  robustness  of  the  RRF  control 
framework,  including  its  audit  work.  The  audit  results  and  observations  do  not  identify 
critical  or  high  risks  that  would  qualify  the  Declaration  of  Assurance  provided  by  the 
Director-General of DG ECFIN in its Annual Activity Report29, which covers the RRF. 

Controls over the legality and regularity of commitments and payments 

The  Commission’s  control  environment  comprises  two  layers:  ex-ante  controls  before  the 
payment is made and ex-post audits thereafter. 

When a payment request is  submitted by a Member State, the Commission assesses  in 
the ex-ante control the satisfactory fulfilment of each milestone and target indicated as 
completed  by  the  Member  State.  To  verify  whether  the  milestones  and  targets  have  been 
satisfactorily  fulfilled,  the  evidence  provided  by  the  Member  State  is  assessed  by  dedicated 
Commission-wide  country  teams.  The  Commission  may  ask  for  additional  information  and 
may  decide  to  carry  out  additional  controls  in  order  to  obtain  the  necessary  complementary 
assurance  on  the  achievement  of  the  milestones  and  targets  before  making  the  payment.  If 
some of the milestones and targets have not been satisfactorily fulfilled, the payment can be 
partially suspended.  

In  2022,  the  Commission  assessed  13  payment  requests  including  366  milestones  and 
targets  and  concluded  that  all  milestones  and  targets  had  been  satisfactorily  fulfilled. 
Consequently, no suspension nor reduction of payments were needed in 2022. 

The Commission also carries out risk-based ex-post audits on milestones and targets to 
obtain  additional  assurance  that  the  information  provided  by  the  Member  State  was 
correct.  In  line  with  its  audit  strategy,  for  2022  the  Commission  carried  out  seven  ex-post 

29 Annual Activity Report 2022 – Economic and Financial Affairs, available at 
https://commission.europa.eu/publications/annual-activity-report-2022-economic-and-financial-affairs_en  

26 

 
 
 
audits  on  milestones  and  targets  regarding  the  first  payment  requests  submitted  by  France, 
Italy,  Portugal,  Croatia  and  Romania  as  well  as  the  second  payment  request  submitted  by 
Croatia and Spain. Based on a risk-assessment, the audit work covered all 15 milestones and 
targets identified as ‘high risk’ and  12 identified as  ‘medium-risk’.  In 2023,  a further  seven 
audits  are  being  carried  out  for  payment  requests  from  Austria,  Czechia,  Denmark,  Greece, 
Luxembourg,  Slovakia  and  Spain.  Based  on  the  final  audit  reports  issued  so  far,  the 
Commission  concluded  that  the  audited  milestones  and  targets  have  been  satisfactorily 
fulfilled.  Had  the  Commission  considered  ex-post  that  a  milestone  or  a  target  as  not 
satisfactorily fulfilled, it would have initiated financial corrections to recover the undue part 
of the payment made. 

Controls to ensure adequate protection of the financial interests of the Union, in the 
manner prescribed by Article 22 of the RRF regulation 

Each  Member  State  must  put  in  place  and  maintain  effective  and  efficient  control 
systems and take appropriate action to protect the financial interests of the Union. Each 
Member State had to detail its national control system in their national RRP, and such systems 
could be assessed by the Commission as either ‘adequate’ (A) or ‘insufficient’ (C).  Had the 
arrangements proposed by the Member State been assessed as insufficient, the plan would not 
have been approved. When assessing the five RRPs approved in 2022, after adoption of the 
previous annual report, the Commission concluded that they had an adequate control system, 
like those of the other 22 RRPs. As it was the case in previous assessments, the Commission 
also  identified  some  deficiencies  in  each  of  the  five  RRPs  positively  assessed  in  2022  and 
required  the  Member  States  concerned  to  take  additional  remedial  measures  by  adding 
specific  milestones  on  audit  and  control  in  their  respective  RRPs.  The  corresponding 
milestones and targets are included in the Annex to the CID and must be fulfilled before any 
regular  payment  can  be  made.  Upon  receiving  the  corresponding  payment  request,  the 
Commission  assesses  the  satisfactory  fulfilment  of  these  specific  milestones  on  audit  and 
control and analyses the submitted management declarations and audit summaries. 

In addition, and in line with its audit strategy, the Commission conducts system audits 
that draw upon information available within the Commission and audit summaries and 
management declarations submitted by the Member States, together with their payment 
requests. In the context of the system audits, the Commission checks the procedures in place 
in Member States to prevent, detect and correct fraud, corruption, and conflict of interest, as 
well  as  double-funding.  This  also  includes  risk-based  checks  on  the  systems  to  collect  and 
store  data  concerning  beneficiaries,  contractors,  subcontractors,  and  beneficial  owners.  The 
Commission  is  empowered  to  recover  funds  or  launch  financial  corrections  if  fraud, 
corruption or conflict of interests have been identified and not corrected by the Member States 
or in case Member States commit serious breaches of the obligations included in the financing 
and loan agreements. 

27 

 
 
The Commission carried out 16 system audits in 202230 and another 11 in 2023 so far31, 
issuing where relevant recommendations with strict implementation deadlines, and  will 
have audited all Member States at least once by the end of 2023. In the context of these 
audits, the Commission also checks that the Member States systems generally provide for, and 
check,  compliance  with  EU  and  national  rules,  including  specific  elements  of  the  public 
procurement  procedure  and  state  aid  rules.  Following  up  on  recommendations  by  the 
European Court of Auditors, the Commission has intensified further its audit work to include, 
for instance, more targeted system audits when and where weaknesses or risks are detected. 

In  addition,  the  Commission  is  also  conducting  audits  on  the  work  done  by  the  national 
audit  authorities  in  the  Member  States.  The  objective  of  these  compliance  audits  is  to 
assess  the  reliability  of  the  work  performed  at  national  level,  both  regarding  audits  on 
milestones  and  targets  and  audits  carried  out  on  the  national  control  systems  to  ensure 
compliance with EU and national rules and the protection of the EU’s financial interests. 

2.7. Outreach on RRP implementation and transparency  

Inter-institutional dialogue and exchanges 

The  Commission  has  been  closely  engaging  with  the  European  Parliament  and  the 
Council  since  the  beginning  of  the  RRF  implementation.  The  Commission  continues  to 
share without delay all RRPs and modified plans submitted by Member States, as well as all 
preliminary  assessments  of  payment  requests,  with  both  the  European  Parliament  and  the 
Council on equal terms.  This ensures a transparent flow of information  with a high level of 
engagement between the institutions throughout the implementation phase. 

As  regards  the  European  Parliament,  the  Commission  is  holding  regular  exchanges  to 
discuss  horizontal  topics  concerning  the  RRF.  Since  the  setting-up  of  the  RRF,  the 
Commission  has  been  invited  to  and  participated  in  eleven  high-level  Recovery  and 
Resilience Dialogues. Moreover, the Commission engages regularly with the Members of the 
European Parliament in the standing Working Group of the joint ECON-BUDG Committees 
and participated overall in  32 meetings. In addition,  the Commission  is invited on a regular 
basis to various other committees to exchange views on matters related to the RRF, including 
the  REGI,  CONT  and  ENVI  committees.  The  Commission  publishes  all  presentations 
delivered in the context of the standing Working Group, on a dedicated website32. 

The  Commission  has  also  set  up  an  informal  expert  group  to  exchange  with  Member 
States  on  the  implementation  of  the  RRF  and  is  frequently  organising  exchanges  of 
views  and  good  practices.  This  group  is  an  important  forum  to  discuss  among  the  experts 
from  the  Member  States  as  well  as  the  Commission  cross-cutting  aspects  on  the  RRF.  The 
topics  discussed  in  this  format  show  a  great  variety,  ranging  from  financial  matters  to 

30 Covering Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, 
Slovenia, and Spain. 
31 Covering Austria, Belgium, Croatia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Romania, and Sweden.  
32 Information provided to the European Parliament or to the Council on the Recovery and Resilience Plans (europa.eu) 

28 

 
 
 
governance  and  audit  and  control,  as  well  as  issues  related  to  specific  policy  areas.  As  an 
example,  the  19th  meeting  in  March  2023  was  dedicated  to  helping  Member  States  include 
and  mainstream  equality  considerations  in  the  REPowerEU  chapter  and  the  revised  RRPs. 
Administrative capacity issues were also addressed at the 20th meeting in May 2023 and will 
be  further  discussed  at  another  meeting  scheduled  for  autumn  2023.  The  expert  group 
facilitates  and  promotes  the  exchange  of  good  practices  regarding  many  elements  of  RRF 
implementation. The Commission publishes all relevant documents, such as agendas, minutes, 
reports, opinions, recommendations and others, on a dedicated website33. 

To date, the Commission has organised 21 meetings of the informal RRF expert group. 
In  December  2022,  the  Commission  organised  the  first  full-day  physical  meeting  with  all 
experts from Member States. In this 16th meeting of the group, Member States presented their 
good practices on three topics: (1) the role of the coordinating authority and the governance of 
the  preparation  and 
RRF 
implementation of RRPs, and (3) communication and visibility aspects of the RRF. Another 
physical meeting of the expert group is expected in Autumn 2023. 

involvement  of  stakeholders 

implementation,  (2) 

the 

in 

Communication and visibility requirements 

As  for  other  Union  funds,  Member  States  are  under  an  obligation  to  ensure  that  the 
recipients  of  Union  funding  under  the  RRF  acknowledge  the  origin  and  ensure  the 
visibility  of  the  funding.  In  this  respect,  Article  34(2)  of  the  RRF  Regulation,  as 
operationalised by Article 10 of the Financing Agreements between the Commission and the 
Member  States,  sets  a  number  of  communication  and  visibility  requirements.  These  include 
setting up a communication strategy, displaying, where applicable, the EU emblem with the 
appropriate  funding statement and establishing and maintaining a single web space. Despite 
these communication and visibility obligations, the results of a 2022 Eurobarometer survey34 
show that, while there is a good knowledge among EU citizens of the existence of the RRPs 
for  their  countries  (with  differences  across  Member  States),  there  is  insufficient  awareness 
that the RRPs are funded (fully or in part) by the EU. This shows the need for Member States 
to step up their efforts. The Commission continues to be in discussions with Member States to 
ensure compliance with their obligations. Compliance with the communication requirements 
is  also  systematically  part  of  the  ex-post  audits  of  milestones  and  targets  carried  out  by  the 
Commission.  The  Commission  provides  guidance  to  Member  States  through  bilateral 
exchanges  and  through  the  INFORM  EU  network,  bringing  together  communicators  from 
Member States and the Commission across EU funds, including the RRF. In this context, the 
Commission  also  continues to  provide support to  Member States in  their implementation  of 
the  communication  strategies  included  in  the  RRPs.  Eight  Member  States  are  currently 
participating  in  a  multi-country  TSI  supported  project  on  building  capacities  for  effective 
communication of the benefits of the RRPs. 

33 Register of Commission expert groups and other similar entities (europa.eu) 
34 https://europa.eu/eurobarometer/surveys/detail/2653  

29 

 
 
 
 
 
Interactive map of projects supported by the RRF 

The accelerated implementation of the RRF  and the efficient delivery on its objectives 
require an increasingly high level of transparency on its functioning and on the concrete 
use  of  the  RRF  funding  by  Member  States.  For  this  purpose,  the  Commission  regularly 
publishes  information  on  the  website  dedicated  to  the  RRF35  (including  on  the  individual 
RRPs  in  the  dedicated  country  pages36)  and  has  set  up  the  Recovery  and  Resilience 
Scoreboard37,  providing  real-time  information  on  the  disbursements  and  progress  made  by 
Member States, as well as additional data, indicators and thematic analyses. 

To  further  increase  the  visibility  and  transparency  of  the  RRF,  the  Commission  has 
launched an interactive map of projects38 supported by the RRF in each Member State. 
The  map  provides  an  overview  of  selected  reforms  and  investments,  points  to  their 
geographical  location  and  offers  information  on  their  state  of  play.  The  map  also  includes 
links to online resources providing more detailed information, such as national RRF websites 
and,  where  available,  the  websites  of  the  specific  RRF-funded  projects.  The  map  was 
officially  launched  on  31  March  2023.  It  will  be  regularly  updated  and  populated  with 
additional implementation information. The first update took place on 24 May 2023, bringing 
the total number of projects showcased at that point to over 430 across all Member States.  

Map of projects supported by the RRF 

Final recipients under the RRF 

The REPowerEU Regulation strengthened transparency regarding the use of RRF funds 
through  the  inclusion  of  a  new  obligation  for  Member  States  to  publish  data  on  final 
recipients.  In  the  context  of  the  RRF,  a  final  recipient  is  understood  as  the  last  entity 
receiving  funds  under  the  RRF  that  is  not  a  contractor  or  a  subcontractor,  for  example, 
citizens, regional or local authorities, or SMEs, and as such can be either a legal or a natural 
person. The new Article 25a of the amended RRF Regulation requires the Member States to 
create  a  publicly  available  and  easy  to  use  portal  where  they  publish  data  on  the  100  final 

35 https://commission.europa.eu/business-economy-euro/economic-recovery/recovery-and-resilience-facility_en  
36 The country pages were revamped on 19 September 2023 to reflect the role played by the RRF in implementing the 
REPowerEU plan as well as to account for other changes to the Member States’ RRPs. 
37 https://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/recovery-and-resilience-scoreboard/index.html 
38 https://commission.europa.eu/business-economy-euro/economic-recovery/recovery-and-resilience-facility_en#map 

30 

 
 
 
 
recipients receiving the highest amount of funding for the implementation of measures under 
the RRF, and to update that data twice a year39. The Commission is then tasked to centralise 
and  publish  the  data  together  with  the  links  to  the  Member  States’  national  portals  on  the 
Recovery and Resilience Scoreboard.  

For this purpose, the Commission provided guidance to the Member States to facilitate 
the  publication  of  data  on  the  100  largest  final  recipients  and  ensure  comparability, 
consistency and equal treatment, including in the context of the 20th and 21st meeting of the 
informal  expert  group  for  the  implementation  of  the  RRF.  Member  States  should  report  on 
any  measure  included  in  the  RRP  where  there  has  already  been  a  disbursement  to  a  final 
recipient, irrespective of whether the Member State has already submitted a payment request 
and  received  funding  under  the  Facility,  since  Member  States  receive  regular  payments  ex-
post  once  the  Commission  has  assessed  that  relevant  milestones  and  targets  have  been 
satisfactorily fulfilled. To ensure consistency and coherence in the presentation of the data on 
the Recovery and Resilience Scoreboard, the Commission has also asked the Member States 
to provide structured data via its IT tool for the RRF, FENIX, and a dedicated template. 

To date, 15 Member States have provided data on the 100 final recipients receiving the 
highest amount of funding for the implementation of measures in their  RRPs, and this 
data  has  also  been  published  on  the  Recovery  and  Resilience  Scoreboard40.  In  its 
guidance  on  RRPs  in  the  context  of  REPowerEU  published  in  February  2023,  the 
Commission  suggested  the  first  information  reporting  exercise  to  happen  in  parallel  to  the 
April 2023 bi-annual reporting. Many Member States have followed this guidance and already 
published data on the 100 largest final recipients on their national portals. Of the 16 Member 
States  who  have  provided  data,  the  majority  (12  Member  States,  namely  Austria,  Croatia, 
Cyprus,  Czechia,  Germany,  Hungary,  Italy,  Latvia,  Lithuania,  Portugal,  Slovakia,  Slovenia, 
Sweden) have published the data on their national portals and submitted structured data to the 
Commission,  while  three  Member  States  (Estonia,  Finland,  and  Poland)  have  published  the 
data on their national portal. As all Member States have the obligation to publish and update 
the data twice a year, starting from the entry into force of the REPowerEU Regulation on 1 
March 2023, it is expected that the remaining Member States will follow and publish data on 
the 100 largest final recipients under their RRP in 2023.  

The Commission encourages Member States that have not yet submitted the data on the 
100  largest  final  recipients  to  do  so  without  delay  in  order  to  comply  with  the  legal 
requirements  of  the  Regulation  and  to  ensure  the  necessary  transparency  on  the 
recipients of RRF funds.  

The analysis of the data on the largest final recipients in each Member State can provide 
valuable  insights  and  lessons  for  the  implementation  of  the  RRF.  The  data  allows  for 

39 The Regulation also specifies what information should be published by the Member States, namely the full name of the 
recipient,  the  VAT  or  tax  identification  number  (or  a  different  unique  identifier)  in  case  of  a  legal  person,  the  amount 
received and the associated measures for which the recipient has received funding. 
40 https://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/recovery-and-resilience-
scoreboard/disbursements.html?table=finalRecipientByCountry  

31 

 
 
 
enhanced transparency regarding where the RRF funding flows and the impact of the RRF on 
the ground, and further complements the already available data on the implementation of the 
RRPs, for instance, regarding fulfilled milestones and targets and the disbursements per pillar.  

The size of payments to the 100 largest final recipients varies significantly across  those 
Member States where data is available. This is explained by the different Member States’ 
allocation  and  heterogenous  nature  of  RRPs.  The  highest  amount  received  by  a  listed  final 
recipient is more than EUR 20 billion, while the lowest amount is EUR 2,450. The average 
value of all amounts received is almost EUR 49 million and the median value is significantly 
lower at approximately EUR 3 million. Within each Member State, a similar  variety can be 
observed regarding how the RRF funding is spread across the 100 largest final recipients and 
the respective highest and lowest amounts received (see Figure 11). 

Figure 11: Spread of the largest final recipients per Member State4142 

Source: European Commission’s own calculation based on the final recipients’ data provided by Member States 

The  majority  of  the  ten  largest  final  recipients  are  public  entities,  and  the  measures 
which they have received RRF funding for are spread relatively evenly across the RRF 
policy pillars. According to Commission estimates,  on average almost two-thirds of the ten 
largest  final  recipients  are  public  entities  and  approximately  27%  are  private  entities  (the 
nature of the remaining final recipients is mixed)43. Overall, the share of funds received by the 
ten  largest  final  recipients  in  each  Member  State  (in  the  16  Member  States  where  data  is 
available) represents 12.7% of all RRF funds received by  these 16 Member States. Looking 
specifically  at  private  entities  among  the  ten  largest  recipients,  the  share  of  funds  they 
received  represents  approximately  1.9%  of  all  RRF  funds  of  those  16  Member  States.  In 

41 The boxplot displays the median, two hinges and two whiskers of a continuous variable distribution. The lower and upper 
hinges correspond to the first and third quartiles (the 25th and 75th percentiles). The upper (lower) whiskers extend from the 
hinge  to the  largest value no  further  than  (at  most) 1.5  than  the  interquartile  range  (IQR).  Furthermore,  mean  markers  are 
included to indicate the skewness of the distribution.  
42 Due to its larger financial allocation under the RRF, the 100 final recipients receiving the highest amounts under the Italian 
RRP have received amounts that are significantly larger than of the other Member States where data is available. Therefore, 
and to increase the readability of the figure, final recipients under the Italian plan are displayed separately. 
43 As per Article 25a of the amended RRF Regulation, Member States are not required to provide data distinguishing between 
final recipients that are public or private entities. The figures presented here are based on the Commission’s own estimates. 

32 

 
 
 
 
addition to these recipients, there are many more investments and schemes that target SMEs 
more  specifically  across  all  RRPs.  An  analysis  of  the  associated  measures  which  final 
recipients  have  received  funding  for  can  also  provide  a  clear  indication  regarding  which 
policy goals and broad sectors the funding under the RRF has supported. The available data44 
for the 100 largest final recipients shows that the associated measures are spread across the six 
policy pillars in a broadly balanced way (see Figure 12), reinforcing the notion that the RRF 
provides support to the Member States that represents a comprehensive and balanced response 
to the economic and social situation. The data available so far also show that the largest final 
recipients under the RRF have been mostly involved in implementing measures contributing 
to  the  digital  transition,  closely  followed  by  investments  in  smart,  sustainable  and  inclusive 
growth, in social and territorial cohesion and green investments, showcasing the importance 
which Member States have attributed to spurring the economic and social recovery after the 
COVID-19 crisis as well as to preparing EU economies, societies and public administrations 
for the green and digital transitions, in complementarity with cohesion policy funds45. 

Figure 12: Contribution of the amounts received and associated measures which the 100 
largest final recipients receive support for towards the six policy pillars46 

Nextgen
6%

Health
10%

Green 
20%

Social 
20%

Digital 
23%

Growth 
21%

Green

Digital

Growth

Social

Nextgen

Health

Source: European Commission’s own calculation based on the final recipients’ data provided by Member States 

The largest payments are linked to infrastructure projects, digitalisation and mobility, 
while  final  recipients  have  most  often  received  financial  support  for  measures  in 
education and other investments in human capital. The largest sums of funding that final 

44 This excludes data on final recipients in Estonia, Finland, and in Poland, where structured data linked to the policy pillars 
and related policy areas has not been made available to the Commission. 
45  Cohesion  policy  covers  similar  types  of  investments,  operating  in  synergy  with  the  RRF.  Since  the  beginning  of  the 
pandemic, cohesion policy disbursed EUR 217.3 billion to support, amongst others, the green and digital transitions and to 
enhance Member States' resilience. 
46 These figures are based on the pillar tagging methodology developed for the Recovery and Resilience Scoreboard, whereby 
each measure in the RRPs is attributed to a primary and to a secondary policy area to reflect that measures can contribute to 
more  than  one  policy  objective.  The  six  policy  pillars  are:  green  transition;  digital  transformation;  smart,  sustainable  and 
inclusive growth; social and territorial cohesion; health, and economic, social and institutional resilience; policies for the next 
generation.  

33 

 
 
 
 
recipients  have  received  in  those  Member  States  where  data  is  available  are  related  to 
investments in territorial infrastructure and services, e-government and digital public services, 
and sustainable mobility, representing policy areas where the investments are typically large 
and  more  expensive.  When  considering  the  number  of  associated  measures  instead  of  the 
sums received, it emerges that the 100 largest final recipients have most often received RRF 
funding  for  the  implementation  of  measures  in  the  areas  of  general,  vocational  and  higher 
education,  e-government  and  digital  public  services,  human  capital  in  digitalisation,  and 
energy efficiency. This reflects the emphasis which many Member States have given in their 
plans  to  education  and  training  measures  and  to  upskilling  and  reskilling  employees,  the 
unemployed and the broader population for the digital transition, as well as to furthering the 
green and digital transitions. 

Looking ahead, the Commission will continue to review the available data to be able to 
draw lessons learned for the implementation of the Facility. The data from the 100 largest 
recipients will also be used to feed the aforementioned interactive map on RRF projects. 

RRF Annual Events  

Annual  Events  are  the  key  communication  moment  on  the  RRF  implementation  at 
national  level.  The  requirement  for  the  Commission  and  the  Member  States  to  hold  joint 
communication activities on RRF funding is  enshrined in  Article 34 of the RRF Regulation 
and  Article  10  of  the  Financing  Agreements.  These  events  bring  together  key  institutions, 
stakeholders  (including  social  partners  and  civil  society  representatives)  and  recipients  of 
RRF  support,  among  others,  to  discuss  the  progress  in  implementing  the  various  projects 
proposed by Member States in their national RRPs. The European Parliament Liaison Offices 
(EPLOs)  in  the  Member  States,  the  European  Economic  and  Social  Committee  (EESC) 
national  representatives  and  the  Committee  of  the  Regions  (CORs)  are  also  invited  to 
participate in these events.  

By  1  September  2023,  22  Annual  Events  had  taken  place  in  as  many  Member  States. 
Cooperation  on  RRF  communication  is  well  established  between  the  European  Semester 
Officers in the Commission Representations and the national administrations. Joint efforts in 
organising  the  Annual  Events  with  high-level  representatives  of  Member  States  and  the 
Commission increase the visibility of the RRF. These events provide excellent opportunities 
for press engagement, thereby broadening the audience beyond the regular stakeholders and 
providing  a  much  wider  outreach.  Indeed,  most  events  have  also  been  live-streamed  with 
recordings of the events, as well as other communication material, available in the individual 
country  pages  on  the  website  dedicated  to  the  RRF  and  the  Recovery  and  Resilience 
Scoreboard. More events are envisaged later in 2023 and next year as the implementation of 
the RRPs, including the newly adopted REPowerEU chapters, progresses. 

Consultation with stakeholders 

Member  States  have  adopted  different  approaches  to  stakeholders’  consultation  in  the 
context  of  preparing  and  implementing  their  respective  RRPs.  The  RRP  Regulation 
requires  Member  States  to  provide,  as  part  of  their  RRPs,  a  summary  of  the  stakeholders’ 

34 

 
 
consultations conducted, including social partners, civil society organisations as well as local 
and  regional  authorities.  The  revised  RRF  Regulation  requires  Member  States  to  provide  a 
further  summary  of  the  outcome  of  the  consultation  process  undertaken  with  stakeholders, 
including local and regional authorities, on the measures included in the REPowerEU chapter. 
The summary should also include a description of how the design of REPowerEU measures 
has taken into account the feedback received and an indication of how it will continue to be 
taken  into  account  during  the  implementation.  Overall,  stakeholders  shared  with  the 
Commission heterogeneous feedback on the consultation processes at national level, ranging 
from regular and granular consultations to more limited ones. Local and regional authorities 
often found their involvement in the numerous policy measures contained in the programmes 
to  be  uneven.  This  is  partly  due  to  the  different  pace  of  implementation  of  reforms  and 
investments and the complexity and diversity of the measures contained in the RRPs in some 
Member  States.  In  this  regard,  the  inclusion  of  the  REPowerEU  chapter  is  indeed  an 
opportunity  to  pave  the  way  for  greater  involvement  of  all  relevant  stakeholders,  including 
social partners, civil society organisations as well as local and regional authorities. 

In the implementation phase, the Commission has been calling and continues to call on 
all  Member  States  to  engage  actively  and  effectively  with  social  partners,  local  and 
regional authorities and other stakeholders, in particular representatives of civil society 
organisations,  through  regular  exchanges.  The  implementation  of  the  RRPs  is  an 
opportunity  to  engage  also  on  the  broader  economic,  employment,  social  and  sustainability 
policy  coordination  agenda  and  will  contribute  to  commonly  identify  challenges  and  define  
solutions￼. Effective involvement is indeed crucial as stakeholder input and engagement will 
help  ensure  the  soundness,  success  and  timeliness  of  the  planned  reforms  and  investments. 
Moreover, the relevant actors involved, serving as a horizontal platform to exchange views on 
the  implementation  and  ensuring  close  cooperation.  In  January  2023,  the  Commission 
published a Communication to strengthen social dialogue in the EU47, as well as a proposal 
for  a  Council  recommendation  on  the  role  of  social  dialogue  which  was  adopted  by  the 
Council  on  12  June  2023.  The  recommendation  calls  on  Member  States  to  involve  social 
partners  in  a  systematic,  meaningful  and  timely  manner  involved  in  the  design  and 
implementation  of employment and social policies and, where relevant,  economic and other 
public policies, including in the context of the European Semester. 

Outreach to the press 

The Commission has been communicating extensively on the implementation of the RRF 
with the press, ever since the RRF’s inception. The Commission has made sure to reach out 
to  national  correspondents  and  specialised  journalists  to  ensure  a  wide  coverage  and  broad 
understanding  by  the  general  public  of  the  main  issues  pertaining  to  the  RRF  and  its 
implementation  on  the  ground,  issuing  over  200  press  releases  and  press  materials  and 
organising  numerous  press  conferences  and  technical  briefings  both  in  Brussels  and  in 

47 Communication on Strengthening social dialogue in the European Union: harnessing its full potential for managing fair 
transitions, 25 January 2023, COM/2023/40 final and proposal for a Council recommendation on strengthening social 
dialogue in the European Union, 25 January 2023, COM/2023/38 final. 

35 

 
 
 
Member States, with the support of the Commission’s Representations. The Commission also 
provided  extensive  and  timely  feedback  both  in  writing  and  orally  to  national  and 
international journalists, addressing their sustained high interest in the instrument. 

Additional  RRF  communication  activities  by  the  Representations  of  the  European 
Commission in the Member States 

Communicating on the benefits of the national RRPs is also a core communication task of all 
the Representations of the European Commission the Member States. Apart from the “annual 
events”,  numerous  other  outreach  activities  are  implemented  in  close  cooperation  with 
European Semester Officers and other teams within the Representations. In many cases also 
stakeholders, national and regional authorities and other external partners are involved in the 
communication efforts. At the occasion of public discussions and media events, the impact of 
the national RRPs on the economy and the life quality for citizens is widely discussed.  

36 

 
 
 
 
 
3.  Contribution of the Facility to the RRF Objectives 

Pursuant to Article 3 of the RRF Regulation, reforms and investments included in the 
RRPs should contribute to the six policy pillars48 defining the scope of the Facility, while 
taking  into  account  the  specific  situation  and  challenges  of  the  Member  States.  The  RRF 
Regulation  also  requires  each  Member  State  to  dedicate  at  least  37%  of  its  RRP  total 
allocation  to  measures  contributing  to  climate  objectives  and  at  least  20%  of  the  total 
allocation to digital objectives, based on the ex-ante costing estimate of those measures.  

The Commission developed a methodology to report on the contribution of each plan to 
the Facility’s six pillars, where each (sub-)measure was tagged under one primary and one 
secondary  policy  area  (according  to  a  list  of  policy  areas  established  by  the  Commission) 
which  are  associated  to  one  of  the  six  pillars,  reflecting  that  a  reform  or  investment  can  be 
related to  several  pillars. To the extent possible,  the pillar reporting is  consistent with  other 
tagging exercises (climate, digital, social expenditure). The share of RRF funds contributing 
to each policy pillar is illustrated in Figure 13. 

Figure 13: Share of RRF funds contributing to each policy pillar 

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

Green transition

Digital
transformation

Smart, sustainable
and inclusive
growth

Social and
territorial cohesion

Health, and
economic, social
and institutional
resilience

Policies for the
next generation

Note: Each measure contributes towards two of the six policy pillars, therefore the total contribution to all pillars displayed 
on this chart amounts to 200% of the RRF funds allocated to Member States. The percentages shown for the contribution to 
the  green  transition  and  digital  transformation  pillars  are  different  from  the  percentages  shown  for  the  contribution  to  the 
climate and digital objectives; the latter are calculated according to a different methodology (detailed in Annexes VI and VII 
of the RRF Regulation). The blue-coloured (bottom) parts represent those measures that have been tagged and assigned to the 
pillar as primary policy area, while the red-coloured (top) parts represent measures tagged as secondary policy area. 
Source: Recovery and Resilience Scoreboard 

48 The six pillars are: (i) green transition, (ii) digital transformation, (iii) smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, including 
economic  cohesion,  jobs,  productivity,  competitiveness,  research,  development  and  innovation,  and  a  well-functioning 
internal  market  with  strong  small  and  medium  enterprises  (SMEs),  (iv)  social  and  territorial  cohesion,  (v)  health,  and 
economic,  social  and  institutional  resilience  with  the  aim  of,  inter  alia,  increasing  crisis  preparedness  and  crisis  response 
capacity, and (vi) policies for the next generation, children and the youth, such as education and skills. 

37 

 
 
 
 
3.1. Contribution of the Facility to the green transition (i.e. Pillar 1) 

The RRF will help achieve the EU’s targets to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at 
least 55% by 2030 and to reach climate neutrality by 2050. The measures supported by the 
RRF are contributing to meet the EU’s climate ambition by promoting sustainable mobility, 
increasing  energy  efficiency  and  promoting  a  higher  deployment  of  renewable  energy 
sources.  They  will  also  ensure  progress  towards  climate  adaption  and  other  environmental 
objectives  such  as  reducing  air  pollution,  promoting  the  circular  economy  or  restoring  and 
protecting biodiversity. A total of EUR 254 billion49 – or 50 percent of Member States’ total 
allocation to-date – has been dedicated to measures contributing to the green transition pillar, 
which can be broken down in 11 policy areas (see Figure 14).50 

Figure 14: Breakdown of expenditure supporting the green transition, by policy area 

Sustainable mobility

Energy efficiency

31%

29%

Renewable energy & networks

14%

R&D&I in green activities

6%

Climate change adaptation

Sustainable use & protection of water & marine res.

5%

5%

Transition to a circular economy

4%

Protection & restoration of biodiversity & ecosystems

3%

Other climate change mitigation

2%

Pollution prevention & control

2%

Green skills & jobs

1%

Note: This chart shows a breakdown of the estimated contribution to the policy pillar according to a list of policy areas 
established by the European Commission. The percentage relates to the overall share of the plan tagged under this policy 
pillar. 
Source: Recovery and Resilience Scoreboard.  

0%

10%

20%

30%

The reforms and investments that  support climate objectives in Member States’ RRPs 
have  exceeded  the  target  of  37%  of  total  allocation  set  in  the  RRF  Regulation  (Figure 
15).  Total  estimated  climate  expenditure  in  the  adopted  plans  amounts  to  EUR  204  billion, 
which  represents  about  40%  of  the  total  plans’  allocation  as  calculated  according  to  the 
climate tagging methodology.51  

49 In section 3, references to EUR amounts dedicated to measures contributing to the RRF pillars are based on ex ante 
estimated expenditure. 
50  This  figure  shows  estimated  expenditure  based  on  the  pillar  tagging  methodology  for  the  Recovery  and  Resilience 
Scoreboard and corresponds to the measures allocated to the pillar Green transition as primary or secondary pillar. 
51 The RRPs had to specify and justify to what extent each measure contributes fully (100%), partly (40%) or has no impact 
(0%) to  climate  objectives, using  Annex  VI  to  the  RRF  Regulation.  Combining  the  coefficients  with  the  cost  estimates  of 
each measure allows calculating to what degree the plans contribute to the climate target. Please note that the contribution to 

38 

 
 
 
 
 
Figure 15: Contribution to climate objectives as share of RRP allocation 

37% target

%
9
5

%
9
% 5
0
5

%
1
4

%
2
4

%
1
4

%
9
5

%
9
5

%
9
6

%
0
5

%
0
% 5

0
4

%
8
% 4
0
4

%
5
4

%
7
3

%
7
3

%
8
3

%
7
3

%
4
5

%
8
4

%
3
4

%
1
4

%
8
3

%
4
4

%
2
4

%
4
4

AT BE BG CY CZ DE DK EE EL ES FI FR HR HU IE IT LT LU LV MT NL PL PT RO SE SI SK

Note:  The  RRPs  had  to  specify and  justify  to  what  extent  each measure  contributes  fully  (100%),  partly  (40%)  or has  no 
impact (0%) on the climate objectives. The contributions to climate objectives have been calculated using Annexes VI and 
VII  of  the  RRF  Regulation,  respectively.  Combining  the  coefficients  with  the  cost  estimates  of  each  measure  allows 
calculating to what degree the plans contribute to the climate targets. 
Source: Recovery and Resilience Scoreboard. 

Out  of  the  705  milestones  and  targets  satisfactorily  fulfilled52  so  far,  261  contribute  to 
pillar  1,  including  246  milestones  and  targets  satisfactorily  fulfilled  since  the  1  March 
2022, i.e. since the last RRF annual report. Since 1 March 2022, the most progress has been 
made  in  the  policy  areas  of  energy  efficiency  (63  milestones  and  targets  fulfilled  in  52 
measures  since  1  March  2022),  sustainable  mobility  (60  M&Ts  in  47  measures),  and 
renewable  energy  and  networks  (40  M&Ts  in  30  measures)  when  considering  primary  and 
secondary  policy  areas  (Figure  16).  Most  milestones  and  targets  are  the  first  step  in  the 
implementation of measures contributing to the green transition. A few examples of measures 
in the green transition pillar implemented since 1 March 2022 are presented in the box below.  

the green transition pillar is higher than the contribution to climate objectives as defined in Annex VI of the RRF Regulation, 
since  methodologies  differ.  The  differences  arise  mainly  because  all  covered  measures  are  considered  to  contribute  with 
100%  of  their  estimated  cost  to  the  pillar,  while  some  contribute  only  with  40%  of  their  estimated  cost  to  the  climate 
objectives  as  defined  in  Annex  VI  of  the  Regulation.  In  addition,  the  green  transition  pillar  also  includes  coefficients  for 
environmental objectives that are wider than climate objectives as per Annex VI of the RRF Regulation. 
52 A milestone and target can contribute to more than one pillar.  

39 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 16: Number of measures in pillar 1 with milestones and targets satisfactorily fulfilled 
since the last RRF annual report, per policy area 

Energy efficiency

Sustainable mobility

43

9

26

21

Renewable energy & networks

15

15

R&D&I in green activities

21

4

Transition to a circular economy

13

11

Climate change adaptation

14

5

Other climate change mitigation

5

Sustainable use & protection of water & marine res.

8

Protection & restoration of biodiversity & ecosystems

10

2

10

6

Green skills & jobs

4

3

Pollution prevention & control

1

4

Source: European Commission  

0

20

40

Investments

Reforms

Examples of relevant measures with fulfilled milestones and targets under the green 
transition pillar 

Reforms 

➢  Slovakia has approved legislation to improve waste management in the construction and 

demolition sector.  

➢  Greece  introduced  a  reform  to  streamline  and  digitize  the  licencing  framework  for 
renewables and passed a law to implement the Guarantees of Origin system supporting 
renewable energy for households. 

➢  Denmark introduced a reform which entails higher taxation on greenhouse gas emission 
incentivizing lower emissions from Danish businesses as well as tax deductions fostering 
green investments.  

Investments 

➢  Bulgaria introduced investments to support green and efficient public transport services 
as well as a reform to further the green energy transition. The RRF provides EUR 110.5 
million for the construction of a section of line 3 of the Sofia metro, for a total length of 
3  km  covering  three  stations,  which  will  provide  a  clean,  rapid  and  efficient  public 
transport service to passengers with intermodal connections. The investment is expected 
to  allow the transport of 7.6 million  passengers  per year on  average as of 2026  and  to 
lead to a reduction in greenhouse gases and air pollution. 

40 

 
 
Medical University Station on Metro line 3 

Copyright: Bulgarian authorities 

➢  Czechia invested in sustainable transport by completing road and railway safety projects 

and by renovating railway bridges and tunnels. 

➢  Croatia  has  introduced  investments  to  construct  and  renovate  public  water  supply 

networks. 

➢  Spain has put in place mechanisms to support investments to deploy renewable energy 
sources  in  buildings and in  industrial  processes  and  to  supported initiatives carried out 
by energy communities. 

Sustainable Mobility 

Measures  supporting  sustainable  mobility  represent  around  a  third  of  the  climate 
expenditure  financed  by  the  Facility,  thereby  constituting  the  most  supported  green 
transition pillar (31% of allocation or EUR 79.4 billion). These measures consist of, among 
others,  investments  in  zero  or  low  emissions  vehicles,  investments  in  the  development  of 
urban  public  transport,  and  investments  in  infrastructure  for  recharging.  Investments  in  the 
modernisation  of railway infrastructure, including the purchase of modern rail rolling stock, 
makes up the majority of the funding at EUR 42 billion. Some RRPs also include ambitious 
reforms  aimed  at  establishing  taxation  regimes  or  changing  the  regulatory  environment  in 
view  of  enabling  the  roll  out  of  zero  emission  mobility.  The  reforms  tackle  the  overall 
regulatory  framework  and  include  strategies  to  support  sustainable  urban  mobility  and 
collective transport. The plans also include reforms introducing competition in port services 
and reform the maritime sector and inland waterways.  

41 

 
 
 
 
Energy Efficiency 

Energy efficiency accounts for 29% of the total expenditures under the green transition 
pillar  (with  a  total  cost  of  EUR  72.8  billion).  Member  States  have  included  in  their  plans 
large investments in energy renovations of private and public buildings and investments in the 
construction  of  new  highly  energy  efficient  buildings.  The  majority  of  investments  concern 
the  energy  efficiency  of  residential  buildings  (at  EUR  31  billion),  which  typically  targets  a 
reduction in primary energy consumption of 30% or more. Beyond buildings, investments in 
other  sectors  will  help  to  decarbonise  the  production  processes  in  SMEs,  larger  enterprises 
and  district  heating  systems,  for  instance  by  promoting  the  integration  of  cleaner  and  more 
efficient technologies for manufacturing processes and centralised heat production (at EUR 7 
billion). To this end, some RRPs also include reforms to tackle barriers for energy efficiency, 
such as amendments to the regulatory framework or the harmonisation of support mechanisms 
through one-stop shops.  

Renewable Energy and Networks 

Overall, total estimated expenditure in clean power – renewable energy and networks – 
accounts  for  14%  of  the  total  expenditures  under  the  green  transition  pillar  (at  a  total 
cost of EUR 35.3 billion). Many RRPs include measures dedicated to clean energy, such as 
investments  in  renewable energy generation, both in  already mature renewable technologies 
as  well  as  innovative  solutions.  Approximately  two-thirds  of  the  overall  investment  in  this 
area will be spent on renewables technologies (EUR 24 billion), with the remaining amount 
allocated  to  investments  in  energy  networks  and  infrastructure  (EUR  11  billion).  Increasing 
the  share  of  renewables  also  requires  an  ambitious  reform  agenda.  To  this  end,  the  reforms 
included in the plans aim to create a stable regulatory environment and appropriate synergies 
between public and private investment, simplify administrative procedures and to adopt new 
or prolong existing support schemes.  

3.2. Contribution of the Facility to the digital transformation (i.e. Pillar 2) 

The RRF provides a significant contribution to the digital transformation in the Union. 
Plans  cover  a  range  of  measures,  including  deployment  of  next  generation  digital 
infrastructures  and  advanced  technologies,  digital  skills  development  for  the  population  and 
the workforce, and support to the digitalisation of enterprises as well as of public services. A 
total of EUR 144 billion will contribute to the digital transformation pillar, distributed across 
digital policy areas as shown in Figure 17.53 

53  This  figure  shows  estimated  expenditure  based  on  the  pillar  tagging  methodology  for  the  Recovery  and  Resilience 
Scoreboard and corresponds to the measures allocated to the pillar Digital transformation as primary or secondary pillar. 

42 

 
 
 
 
 
Figure 17: Breakdown of expenditure supporting the digital transformation per policy area 

E-government, digital public services and local digital
ecosystems

37%

Human capital in digitalisation

Digitalisation of businesses

20%

19%

Connectivity

11%

Digital capacities and deployment of advanced technologies

10%

Digital-related measures in R&D&I

3%

Note:  This  chart  shows  a  breakdown  of  the  estimated  contribution  to  the  policy  pillar  according  to  a  list  of  policy  areas 
established  by  the  European  Commission.  The  percentage  relates  to  the  overall  share  of  the  plan  tagged  under  this  policy 
pillar. 
Source: Recovery and Resilience Scoreboard. 

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

The  reforms  and  investments  that  support  digital  objectives  in  Member  States’  RRPs 
have exceeded the target of 20% of total allocation set in the RRF (Figure 18). To date, 
the total digital estimated expenditure in the plans corresponds to EUR 130 billion, about 26% 
of  the  total  allocation  of  the  plans,  as  calculated  according  to  the  digital  tagging 
methodology.54 

Among the 705 milestones and targets satisfactorily fulfilled so far,  184 milestones and 
targets contribute to pillar 2, including 178 milestones and targets satisfactorily fulfilled 
since 1 March 2022). The most progress has been made in the policy areas of e-government, 
digital public services and local digital ecosystems (85 milestones and targets fulfilled in 72 
measures  since  1  March  2022),  human  capital  in  digitalisation  (40  M&Ts  in  30  measures), 
and  digitalisation  of  business  (29  M&Ts  in  20  measures)  (Figure  19).  A  few  examples 
drawing from payment requests which have been positively assessed are presented in the box 
below. They focus on key areas linked to digital policy but other areas such as connectivity 
are also of importance.  

54 The RRPs had to specify and justify to what extent each measure contributes fully (100%), partly (40%) or has no impact 
(0%) to digital  objectives, using Annex  VII  of  the  RRF  Regulation.  Combining  the  coefficients with  the  cost  estimates  of 
each measure allows calculating to what degree the plans contribute to the digital target. 

43 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 18: Contribution to digital objectives as share of RRP allocation 

%
3
5

%
1
5

20% benchmark

%
7
2

%
6
2

%
3
2

%
2
2

%
5
2

%
4
2

%
9
2

%
8
% 2
3
2

%
2
2

%
0
2

%
% 3
4

0
3

%
2
% 3
5
2

%
0
3

%
6
% 2
1
2

%
6
2

%
1
2

%
2
2

%
0
2

%
0
2

%
1
2

%
1
2

AT BE BG CY CZ DE DK EE EL ES FI FR HR HU IE IT LT LU LV MT NL PL PT RO SE SI SK

Note: The RRPs had to specify and justify to what extent each measure contributes fully (100%), partly (40%) or has no 
impact (0%) on the digital objectives. The contributions to digital objectives have been calculated using Annexes VI and VII 
of the RRF Regulation, respectively. Combining the coefficients with the cost estimates of each measure allows calculating 
to what degree the plans contribute to the digital targets. 
Source: Recovery and Resilience Scoreboard. 

Figure 19: Number of measures in pillar 2 with milestones and targets satisfactorily fulfilled 
since the last RRF annual report, per policy area 

E-government, digital public services and local digital
ecosystems

39

33

Human capital in digitalisation

17

13

Digitalisation of businesses

17

3

Connectivity

6

7

Digital capacities and deployment of advanced
technologies

7

3

Digital-related measures in R&D&I

7

2

Source: European Commission  

0

20

40

60

Investments

Reforms

44 

 
 
 
 
 
Examples of relevant measures with fulfilled milestones and targets under the digital 
transformation pillar 

Reforms 

➢  Romania  adopted  a  reform  to  accelerate  the  national  roll-out  of  5G  networks,  in 
accordance with security regulations, and to provide broadband coverage for white areas 
(small  rural  municipalities,  isolated  localities,  disadvantaged  inhabited  areas),  tackling 
the  rural-urban  digital  divide,  reducing  the  administrative  burden  and  streamlining 
procedures  and  fees,  creating  the  prerequisites  for  equal  access  to  digital  services  and 
internet access. 

➢  Slovakia  approved  the  National  Concept  for  Informatisation  of  Public  Administration, 
which sets out the framework for digital reforms in line with the RRP. In particular, in the 
context  of  the  cybersecurity  reform,  the  National  Concept  will  set  the  framework  for 
standardisation  of  cybersecurity  requirements  while  clarifying  that  further  specific 
actions will be necessary to set the technical and procedural standards of cybersecurity. 

➢  Slovenia  established  the  Informatics  Development  Council  which  shall  act  as  a  central 
forum  for  the  public  administration  for  the  coordination  at  operational  level  related  to 
information  technology  investment,  standards  and  other  technological  developments  in 
particular where compatibility of the systems is essential for their efficient operation and 
maintenance. 

Investments 

➢  Austria  introduced  measures  to  support  the  digitalisation  of  schools  and  education  to 
provide for a fair and equal access to basic digital skills. The RRF funds an investment of 
EUR 171.7 million to provide laptops and tablets to pupils at lower secondary level. This 
investment  is  accompanied  by  a  reform  aimed  at  improving  the  infrastructure  in  the 
various school buildings, in order to ensure an optimal use of the digital devices provided 
to pupils.  

45 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A school in Innsbruck (Tyrol, Austria) with computers supported by the RRF 

Copyright: Representation of the European Commission in Austria/APA-Fotoservice/ Hetfleisch 

➢  Denmark  developed  and  made  available  new  digital  solutions  to  make  the  healthcare 
system  more  connected  following  the  COVID-19  pandemic.  The  solutions  include  the 
use of digital technologies and video consultations.  

➢  Spain invested in digitalising major cultural establishments such as the National Prado 
Museum,  the  National  Museum  Centro  de  Arte  Reina  Sofía,  the  Spanish  National 
Library as well as other library assets from the state administrations or private entities, 
archive  systems,  inventories  and  records  of  historical  heritage,  including  audio-visual 
heritage. 

➢  Italy awarded public contracts for all five connectivity projects that are part of the “Fast 
internet  connections”  investment.  These  public  contracts  aim  at  procuring  the 
completion of the national ultra-fast and 5G telecommunications network throughout the 
Italian territory. 

➢  Malta started the implementation of secure digital solutions and tools to support justice 
sector users by simplifying processes, increasing the accessibility to justice (in terms of 
documentation but also remote testimony), and strengthening the efficiency of the justice 
system in line with the Digital Justice Strategy.  

➢  Portugal launched the Academy Portugal Digital, an online platform that allows users to 

assess their digital skills and receive personalized digital training courses. 

E-government and digital public services 

Measures  supporting  the  digitalisation  of  public  services  and  e-government  represent 
more than a third of the digital expenditure financed by the Facility, this being the most 
supported digital policy area (37% of the digital  transformation  pillar or EUR  53 billion). 
These measures  seek to  modernise and improve  public administration processes, in  order to 
make them more user-friendly,  citizen-oriented  and interoperable and to  boost the access  to 
and  uptake  of  digital  public  services  by  individuals  and  businesses.  Many  RRPs  include 

46 

 
 
 
reforms aimed at introducing or improving e-government solutions, such as eID deployment, 
at  ensuring  the  interoperability  of  digital  public  platforms,  as  well  as  improving  data 
collection and management. A number of RRPs also include investments aimed at integrating 
advanced  technologies  (such  as  government  cloud)  in  government  processes,  as  well  as 
strengthening the public sector’s cybersecurity capacity. Measures aimed at the digitalisation 
of national healthcare and justice systems are also present in many RRPs.  

The digitalisation of public services concerns several policy areas and provides synergies 
with  the  five  other  pillars  supported  by  the  Facility.  For  instance,  supporting  the  green 
pillar,  some  investments  reflect  the  key  role  of  digitalisation  in  making  the  EU  transport 
systems  more  sustainable  and  resilient,  for  example  through  intelligent  transport  systems 
(ITS)  technologies,  urban  mobility  management tools,  multimodal ticketing  and  multimodal 
passenger information systems and extension of the coverage of the European Rail Transport 
Management System. 

Digitalisation of businesses 

All RRPs include measures supporting the digitalisation of businesses, for a total of EUR 
27  billion  or  19%  of  the  digital  transformation  pillar.  Measures  in  this  area  include  key 
reforms,  the  most  important  being  those  aimed  at  simplifying  the  administrative  procedures 
for businesses and at creating the foundation of a digital business environment, with actions in 
the area of digital business creation and registration, trust and cybersecurity. These measures 
are  expected  to  increase  the  level  of  trust  on  the  adoption  of  digital  technologies,  with  a 
positive effect both on their take up and on the intensity of their use. Reforms related to the 
digitisation  of  invoicing  are  also  expected  to  have  a  positive  impact  on  the  digitalisation  of 
businesses and increase transparency. A number of plans also include investments to support 
the  integration  of  advanced  digital  technologies  in  firms’  production  processes  (e.g., 
automation, artificial intelligence). 

Human capital  

RRPs also include a wide range of measures to support the development of digital skills, 
for  a  total  estimated  cost  of  EUR  29  billion,  which  represent  20%  of  the  digital 
transformation pillar. Most plans include measures to increase the digital skill levels in the 
general population and in the workforce. Some plans also include measures to foster advanced 
digital  skills  and  to  train  ICT  professionals,  with  the  development  of  training  modules  in 
advanced  digital  technologies  for  higher  education  and  vocational  training.  The  COVID-19 
pandemic  has  highlighted  the  need  for  digitalisation  of  education,  and  a  number  of  RRPs 
include relevant measures. 

3.3. Contribution of the Facility to smart, sustainable and inclusive growth (i.e. Pillar 3) 

The  27  RRPs  contribute  to  smart,  inclusive  and  sustainable  growth  (i.e.  Pillar  3)  with 
more  than  1500  measures  for  about  EUR  214.6  billion.  These  measures  concern  diverse 

47 

 
 
areas:  from  reforms  to  support  the  business  environment  or  competitiveness,  to  support  to 
SMEs, to research and development and innovation, or to the cultural sector (Figure 20).  

Figure 20: Breakdown of expenditure supporting smart, sustainable and inclusive growth per 
policy area 

Building renovation and construction

Support to SMEs

Research, Development and Innovation

24%

18%

16%

Competitiveness

11%

7%

7%

6%

Business environment/ Entrepreneurship

Industrialisation and reindustrialisation

Business infrastructure

Cultural sector

4%

Regulatory changes for smart, sustainable and…

Support to large enterprises

Transnational cooperation

3%

2%

1%

Note:  This  chart  shows  a  breakdown  of  the  estimated  contribution  to  the  policy  pillar  according  to  a  list  of  policy  areas 
established  by  the  European  Commission.  The  percentage  relates  to  the  overall  share  of  the  plan  tagged  under  this  policy 
pillar. 
Source: Recovery and Resilience Scoreboard 

0%

10%

20%

To date, 350 milestones and targets contributing to pillar 3 have been fulfilled, with 321 
milestones and targets fulfilled since 1 March 2022. Progress has been made particularly in 
the  policy  areas  of  regulatory  changes  for  smart,  sustainable  and  inclusive  growth  (85 
milestones and targets  fulfilled in  67  measures  since 1 March 2022),  research, development 
and  innovation  (49  M&Ts  in  42  measures),  and  business  environment/entrepreneurship  (52 
M&Ts in 37 measures) (Figure 21). 

48 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 21: Number of measures in pillar 3 with milestones and targets satisfactorily fulfilled 
since the last RRF annual report, per policy area 

Regulatory changes for smart, sustainable and inclusive
growth

Research, Development and Innovation

Business environment/ Entrepreneurship

Building renovation and construction

Support to SMEs

8

8

19

23

29

31

5

29

4

59

Competitiveness

17

16

Business infrastructure

14

5

Cultural sector

17

3

Industrialisation and reindustrialisation

12

2

Support to large enterprises

6

1

Transnational cooperation

4

1

0

20

40

60

Investments

Reforms

Source: European Commission 

R&D&I under pillar 3 

25  RRPs  include  measures  related  to  the  policy  area  of  ‘research,  development  and 
innovation’ under pillar 3, for a total of EUR 38.1 billion. The amount of R&I investments 
under pillar 3 represents typically between 4% and 18% of the RRF  non-repayable financial 
support of a Member State, with a few outliers below or above this range and an average of 
about 8%. 

The R&I measures under pillar 3 have a wide range of objectives. The R&I reforms under 
pillar  3  aim  to  reduce  the  fragmentation  of  the  scientific  research  systems,  reduce  the 
administrative  burden  to  access  public  funding  for  R&I  activities,  support  knowledge  and 
technology  transfer,  remove  barriers  to  academia-business  collaboration,  and  improve  the 
coordination  between  the  different  levels  of  governance  for  R&I  and  education.  A  large 
number of RRPs contain thematic R&I investments under pilar 3 which will allow mobilising 
R&I  capacities  in  view  of  accelerating  the  green  and  digital  transitions  and  enhancing 
resilience, in line with EU-level agendas (about 27% and 23% of the estimated cost of R&I-
related measures has been tagged as contributing to green and digital objectives, respectively). 

To date, 53 milestones and targets related to the  policy area of ‘research, development 
and innovation’  have been fulfilled (out of a total  of 705 fulfilled  M&Ts), including 49 
satisfactorily fulfilled since 1 March 2022.  

49 

 
 
It is important to highlight that some measures in pillar 1 and pillar 2 also contribute to 
research and development55. R&D&I investments as a whole (i.e. including those relevant 
measures tagged under pillar 1, pillar 2, and pillar 3) contribute to an estimated total of EUR 
48  billion,  which  represents  on  average  about  10%  of  the  RRF  non-repayable  financial 
support of a Member State.  

Examples of relevant measures with fulfilled milestones and targets under the smart, 
sustainable and inclusive growth pillar (‘research, development and innovation’ policy 
area) 

Reforms: 

➢  Slovakia  introduced  amendments  of  two  legislative  acts  for  the  transformation  of  the 
Slovak Academy of Sciences into a public research organisation, in order to enable multi-
source funding and enhanced cooperation with the private sector to pursue joint projects 
and promote research and technology transfer. 

Investments: 

➢  Italy  awarded  contracts  to  support  the  creation  or  strengthening  of  at  least  30  research 
infrastructure/institutions  of  strategic  relevance  identified  in  the  National  Plan  for 
Research Infrastructures 2021-2027 and the related innovation infrastructures.  

The aim of the measure is to develop research facilities, support innovation and technology 
transfer processes as well as promote public-private partnerships. 

➢  Spain  supported  68  companies  (39  large  and  29  SMEs)  having  R&I  projects  in 
sustainable  automotive  to  increase  the  technological  capacity  of  the  companies  in  a 
number  of  fields  including:  development  of  energy  storage  systems  with  very  low 

55 Pillar 1 on green transition includes green-specific R&D&I measures categorised in the ‘R&D&I in green activities’ policy 
area and pillar 2 on digital transformation includes digital-specific R&D&I measures categorised in the ‘digital-related 
measures in research, development and innovation’ policy area. 

50 

 
 
 
 
emissions and high recyclability, high-efficiency hydrogen mobility systems, autonomous 
driving and connected mobility  or adaptation  of productive environments with  safe and 
robust systems for human-machine interaction in the smart manufacturing environment.  

Support to enterprises (including SMEs, access to finance and financial instruments) 

Most RRPs include measures which provide direct support to SMEs, for a total of EUR 
45  billion  which  represent  approximately  22%  of  the  total  estimated  expenditure  for 
pillar 3. In total, 159 measures provide support to SMEs, with 332 milestones and targets. 

The scope of the SME measures included in the RRPs covers a wide range of areas, from 
improvement of the business environment and access to public procurement, to digitalisation 
of SMEs and improvement of their environmental sustainability. A number of measures also 
aim at improving SMEs’ growth and resilience through improved access to finance, reskilling 
and upskilling of their employees or strengthening their research and development capacities.  

To date, 51 of the milestones and targets related to the measures supporting SMEs have 
been fulfilled  (out of a total  of 705 fulfilled  M&Ts), including 49 satisfactorily fulfilled 
since 1 March 2022.  

Examples of relevant measures with fulfilled milestones and targets under the smart, 
sustainable and inclusive growth pillar (‘support to SMEs’ policy area) 

Investments: 

➢  Croatia  established  a  financial  instrument  to  support  investment  by  micro,  small  and 
medium-sized enterprises, encouraging investment in new technologies, the purchase of 
modern machinery, equipment, and increasing production and service capacity, as well as 
green transition measures. 

➢  Greece  launched  the  calls  for  proposals  for  funding  a  voucher  scheme  for  investments 
targeted  towards  technologies  and  services  to  foster  the  digitalisation  of  small-  and 
medium-sized enterprises (such as e-payment, e-sales and e-invoicing applications, tools 
for digital advertising, digital upskilling, cybersecurity systems, cloud infrastructures and 
services, etc.). 

➢  Italy established a financial instrument for financing start-ups, with the signature of the 
agreement  between  the  government  and  the  implementing  partner  Cassa  Depositi  e 
Prestiti (CDP). 

3.4. Contribution of the Facility to social and territorial cohesion (i.e. Pillar 4) 

Member  States  have  included  a  significant  number  of  measures  to  support  social  and 
territorial  cohesion,  especially  contributing  to  the  implementation  of  the  European 
Pillar of Social Rights, with its dedicated chapters on equal opportunities and access to the 

51 

 
 
labour  market,  fair  working  conditions  and  social  protection  and  inclusion.  More  precisely, 
the 27 RRPs adopted by the Council will support pillar 4 with around EUR 220.6 billion. The 
breakdown of expenditure within the pillar is shown in Figure 22. 

Among  the  705  milestones  and  targets  fulfilled  so  far,  253  contribute  to  pillar  4, 
including 237 fulfilled since the last annual report in March 2022. The most progress has 
been  made  in  the  policy  areas  of  territorial  infrastructure  and  service  (106  milestones  and 
targets  fulfilled  in  84  measures  since  1  March  2022),  social  protection  (58  M&Ts  in  52 
measures), and adult learning (41 M&Ts in 27 measures) (Figure 23). It is worth stressing that 
149  of  the  fulfilled  milestones  and  targets  under  pillar  4  since  the  inception  of  the  RRF 
support  social  objectives  in  the  broad  sense56,  showing  a  strong  commitment  by  Member 
States to deliver on the social dimension from the initial stages of the RRPs’ implementation. 
Such  measures  will  also  contribute  to  the  achievement  of  the  EU  2030  headline  targets  on 
employment, skills and poverty reduction. 

Figure 22: Breakdown of expenditure supporting social and territorial cohesion per policy 
area 

Territorial infrastructure and services

67%

*Adult learning

8%

*Social housing and other social infrastructure

7%

Development of rural and remote areas (e.g. islands)

7%

*Social protection, including social services and
integration of vulnerable groups

6%

*Modernisation of labour market institutions

3%

*(Non-youth) employment support and job creation,
including hiring and job transition incentives and…

2%

0%

20%

40%

60%

Note:  This  chart  shows  a  breakdown  of  the  estimated  contribution  to  the  policy  pillar  according  to  a  list  of  policy  areas 
established  by  the  European  Commission.  The  percentage  relates  to  the  overall  share  of  the  plan  tagged  under  this  policy 
pillar.  The  methodology  for  reporting  social  expenditure,  as  defined  in  Delegated  Regulation  (EU)  2021/2105,  is  fully 
aligned and integrated into the methodology for reporting expenditure under the six pillars. Under this pillar, the policy areas 
marked with an asterisk (*) are used for the social expenditure methodology. 
Source: Recovery and Resilience Scoreboard. 

56 These milestones and targets are linked to measures contributing to the social categories, as defined by the Delegated 
Regulation 2021/2105. 

52 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 23: Number of measures in pillar 4 with milestones and targets satisfactorily fulfilled 
since the last RRF annual report, per policy area 

Territorial infrastructure and services

43

41

*Social protection, including social services and
integration of vulnerable groups

16

36

*Adult learning

8

19

*Modernisation of labour market institutions

4

16

Development of rural and remote areas (e.g. islands)

14

4

*Social housing and other social infrastructure

8

4

*(Non-youth) employment support and job creation,
including hiring and job transition incentives and…

6

6

0

20

40

60

80

Investments

Reforms

Note: The methodology for reporting social expenditure, as defined in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2105, is fully aligned 
and integrated into the methodology for reporting expenditure under the six pillars. Under this pillar, the policy areas marked 
with an asterisk (*) are used for the social expenditure methodology. 
Source: European Commission 

Social protection, inclusion, social housing and social infrastructure  

All RRPs include reforms or investments contributing to strengthening Member States’ 
social  protection  systems.  More  than  300  measures  address  a  broad  range  of  challenges, 
notably the ones highlighted in the relevant country-specific recommendations. The measures 
supporting  social  protection  and  social  housing  account  for  around  EUR  28.8  billion.  In 
particular, the measures focus on the effectiveness, quality and resilience of social protection 
systems.  The  majority  of  social  protection  investments  under  the  RRF  relate  to  upgrading, 
expanding  or  improving  the  social  services  network  and  facilities  provided  by  public  and 
private  social  institutions.  They  also  include  specific  measures  addressing,  for  instance,  the 
inclusion  of  people  with  disabilities,  increasing  the  adequacy  and  sustainability  of  social 
benefits,  and  improving  the  living  conditions  of  older  people  in  need  of  care.  A  number  of 
Member  States  also  include  important  investments  to  increase  the  supply  of  social  housing 
and social infrastructure  to  disadvantaged groups, using mostly  loans. Some Member States 
also included in their RRPs steps for the reform of the minimum income and pension systems 
to increase their adequacy and sustainability.  

To date, 72 milestones and targets related to the policy areas of social protection and of 
social  housing  have  been  fulfilled  (out  of  a  total  of  705  M&Ts),  including  67  since  1 
March 2022.  

53 

 
 
 
 
 
Examples of relevant measures with fulfilled milestones and targets under the social and 
territorial cohesion pillar ('social protection’ and ‘social housing’ policy areas) 

Reforms: 

➢  Slovakia consolidated the powers of supervision of social care to reduce fragmentation 
and improve efficiency of social care and improve quality of care in social services and 
households. 

➢  Spain adopted a reform of the social security contribution system for the self-employed 
to gradually shift the contribution system to be based on real income, to ensure that the 
self-employed are able to receive a more adequate pension income in the future. 

Investments: 

➢  For the creation of a new social mentoring service aiming at ensuring sufficient human 
capacity to carry out social services, Croatia trained 220 social mentoring professionals 
which will be able to provide more individualised and empowerment support. 

➢  France supported energy efficiency renovation in social housing by allocating grants to 

more than 20 000 social dwellings. 

Employment support, modernisation of labour market institutions and adult education and 
training for target groups other than youth 

The  majority  of  Member  States  have  included  a  comprehensive  range  of  reforms  and 
investments  in  their  RRPs  to  promote  job  creation,  and  the  modernisation  of  their 
labour  markets.  In  total,  measures  supporting  the  policy  areas  of  ‘non-youth  employment’ 
and of ‘the modernisation of labour market institutions’ account for around EUR 11.2 billion. 
These  measures  directly  address  country-specific  recommendations  related  to  employment 
support  and  labour  market  enhancement.  Employment  and  active  labour  market  policies 
feature prominently in nearly all RRPs. The plans encompass investments and reforms aimed 
at  increasing  the  labour  market  participation  of  women,  young  people,  and  disadvantaged 
groups, supporting job creation and the transition to emerging sectors and occupations. These 
measures  are  also  designed  to  stimulate  employment  and  enhance  the  performance, 
functioning, and resilience of labour markets.  

All national RRPs include measures on skills and adult learning, often linked with active 
labour  market  policies.  These  include,  for  instance,  national  skills  strategies,  reforms  to 
improve skills intelligence and governance, including recognition and validation of skills, as 
well as targeted investments in upskilling and reskilling for employees, the unemployed and 
the  broader  population.  Reforms  and  investments  related  to  adult  learning,  including 
continuous  vocational  education  and  training,  and  recognition  and  validation  of  skills, 
comprised in the national RRPs amount to around EUR 17.7 billion. 

54 

 
 
So far, 83 milestones and targets related to the policy areas of ‘non-youth employment’, 
‘modernisation of labour market institutions’ and of ‘adult learning’ have been fulfilled, 
including 73 since the last annual report of the RRF in March 2022. Fulfilled milestones 
and  targets  relate,  for  instance,  to  the  introduction  of  a  voucher  system  for  upskilling  and 
reskilling programmes, targeted skills development programmes for the unemployed, updates 
of training curricula as well as the adoption of national skills strategies and action plans.  

Examples of relevant measures with fulfilled milestones and targets under the social and 
territorial cohesion pillar (‘non-youth employment’, ‘modernisation of labour market 
institutions’ and of ‘adult learning’ policy area) 

Reforms:  

➢  Croatia  has  introduced  a  voucher  system  used  to  finance  participation  in  educational 
programmes that develop green and digital skills At least 25 educational programmes are 
involved. The system contains a skills catalogue that maps existing and needed skills in 
the labour market, as well as an IT application for managing and awarding vouchers.  

The Croatian voucher system benefits employed and unemployed persons, with a particular 
focus on vulnerable groups (long-term unemployed, inactive or young people neither in 
education, training or employment (NEETs)).  

➢  Austria  has  implemented  a  measure  aiming  to  provide  targeted  support  for  bringing 
long-term  unemployed  facing  multiple  barriers  back  to  the  labour  market.  The 
coordinated support is expected to help to address those multiple barriers and facilitate 
access to qualification and training.  

➢  Spain has implemented a labour market reform to address long-standing structural issues 
such  as  duality  and  high  temporary  employment  rate.  At  the  same  time,  the  legal 
framework has been adapted to allow firms to adapt more flexibly to shocks. One of the 
main features of the reform dealt with the work contract menu, reducing several forms to 
only three types and making open-ended contracts the default option. 

55 

 
 
 
Territorial infrastructure and services, development of rural and remote areas (including 
islands)  

A  substantial  number  of  reforms  and  investments  is  aimed  at  improving  territorial 
infrastructure and services at local level  and bridging the divide between urban, rural 
and  remote  areas.  They  boost  the  local  economy,  increase  the  regional  and  national 
competitiveness,  and  have  a  direct  positive  impact  on  the  quality  of  daily  life.  Many  of  the 
reforms and investments concern the promotion and improvement of sustainable mobility and 
transport,  mainly  the  modernisation  of  railways  and  ports,  and  other  sustainable  mobility 
projects, such as for developing public transport services and constructing cycling lanes. The 
RRPs also include several measures to improve the use of natural resources and preserve the 
environment  at  local  level.  This  covers  reforms  and  investments  to  improve  waste  and 
wastewater  management  including  on  islands,  to  expand  water  treatment  systems  and 
irrigation networks, to increase the sustainability of the agricultural sector and to support the 
creation of consortia in functional rural areas. The measures are also aimed at other types of 
territorial infrastructure and services, such as the deployment of broadband infrastructure and 
social services and infrastructure in remote areas. Furthermore, the reforms and investments 
help improve the performance of the public administration at local level by strengthening the 
capacity of municipalities to deliver good quality services.  

The  measures  supporting  territorial  infrastructure  and  services  account  for  around 
EUR 151.2 billion, while specific measures supporting the development of rural and remote 
areas account for around EUR 16.0 billion. So far, 124 milestones and targets related to these 
two policy areas have been fulfilled, including 121 since the last annual report of the RRF in 
March 2022 

Examples of relevant measures with fulfilled milestones and targets under the social and 
territorial cohesion pillar (‘territorial infrastructure and services’ and ‘development of 
rural and remote areas’ policy areas) 

Reforms: 

➢  Bulgaria  enhanced  the  direct  involvement  of  the  regional  and  local  level  in  the 
management of EU funds by strengthening their role in the design and implementation 
of integrated territorial strategies and projects. 

➢  Croatia  improved  the  agricultural  land  restructuring  and  consolidation  systems  by 
simplifying  the  consolidation  procedures  and  ensuring  a  continuous  monitoring  of 
agricultural  land.  This  contributes  to  a  more  efficient  use  of  agricultural  land,  helps 
preserve the environment and improve life in rural areas.  

➢  Italy improved the procedures for the evaluation of projects in the local public transport 
systems  sector  and  in  the  rapid  mass  transport  sector  by  clearly  defining  the 
responsibilities  in  the  approval  of  local  public  transport  projects  and  simplifying  the 
payment procedure. 

56 

 
 
➢  Spain  established  the  Institute  for  the  Just  Transition  Fund,  which  is  responsible  for 
identifying and adopting measures that guarantee the equitable treatment of workers and 
territories  affected  by  the  transition  towards  a  low  carbon  economy,  minimise  the 
the 
territories,  and  optimise 
impacts  on 
negative 
transformation process. 

the  opportunities  of 

these 

3.5.  Contribution  of  the  Facility  to  health,  and  economic,  social,  and  institutional 
resilience, with the aim of, inter alia, increasing crisis preparedness and crisis response 
capacity (i.e. Pillar 5) 

The Member States’ RRPs contribute significantly to health, and economic, social, and 
institutional  resilience,  with  the  aim  of,  inter  alia,  increasing  crisis  preparedness  and  crisis 
response  capacity.  More than 1100 measures  and sub-measures for about  EUR 84.1 billion, 
included in  the 27 RRPs,  contribute to  the policy pillar of health, and  economic, social and 
institutional resilience. These measures cover policy areas ranging from health- and long-term 
care  to  the  effectiveness  of  judicial  systems  and  anti-money  laundering  supervision.  The 
breakdown of expenditure across the different policy areas within the pillar is shown in Figure 
24.57  

Among  the  705  milestones  and  targets  satisfactorily  fulfilled  so  far,  296  contribute  to 
pillar 5, including 274 milestones and targets satisfactorily fulfilled since 1 March 2022. 
The most progress has been made in the policy areas of effectiveness of public administration 
and  national  systems  (141  milestones  and  targets  fulfilled  in  95  measures  since  1  March 
2022),  healthcare  (40  M&Ts  in  35  measures),  and  fraud  prevention  (36  M&Ts  in  22 
measures) (Figure 25). 

57 Please note that in some policy areas (such as Fiscal policy and fiscal governance or Rule of Law reforms) relevant 
measures are mostly reforms with no expenditure associated 

57 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 24: Breakdown of expenditure supporting health and resilience per policy area 

28%

8%

49%

*Healthcare: resilience, sustainability, adequacy,

availability, accessibility and quality,…
Effectiveness of public administration and
national systems, including minimising…
*Long-term care: resilience, sustainability,
adequacy, availability, accessibility and…

Crisis preparedness

5%

Effectiveness of judicial systems

Strategic autonomy

4%

3%

Crisis reaction capacity

0,9%

Tax measures, including measures pertaining to
aggressive tax planning

0,8%

Business and public service continuity (in crisis)

0,6%

Fiscal policy and fiscal governance

0,4%

Fraud prevention

0,4%

Anti-money laundering supervision

0,0%

Financial sector reforms

0,0%

Rule of Law reforms

0,0%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Note:  This  chart  shows  a  breakdown  of  the  estimated  contribution  to  the  policy  pillar  according  to  a  list  of  policy  areas 
established  by  the  European  Commission.  The  percentage  relates  to  the  overall  share  of  the  plan  tagged  under  this  policy 
pillar.  The  methodology  for  reporting  social  expenditure,  as  defined  in  Delegated  Regulation  (EU)  2021/2105,  is  fully 
aligned and integrated into the methodology for reporting expenditure under the six pillars. Under this pillar, the policy areas 
marked with an asterisk (*) are used for the social expenditure methodology. 
Source: Recovery and Resilience Scoreboard. 

Health and long-term care 

A  broad  range  of  investment  and  reform  projects  in  health  under  the  RRF  are  being 
implemented, including in the area of primary care, outpatient care, digital health combined 
with  efficiency-oriented  measures to  enhance the governance, cost  effectiveness,  access  and 
quality of health services. Recent health reforms address challenges created by the pandemic, 
such  as  improving  public  health  capacities.  The  pandemic  also  shifted  policy  towards 
prevention.  Reforms  and  investments  specifically  tailored  to  mental  health  care  and  a 
comprehensive overhaul of national health strategies are being undertaken by several Member 
States.  For  example,  Italy,  Lithuania,  and  Portugal  are  reorganising  their  health  systems  to 
improve  access  to  healthcare  at  local  level  and  Latvia,  Luxembourg,  Poland,  Malta  and  the 
Netherlands  seek  to  strengthen  the  health  workforce.  Overall,  across  the  27  national  RRPs 
more than EUR 43.0 billion (or 8.7% of total non-repayable financial support and loans under 
the  RRF)  are  earmarked  for  healthcare-related  measures.  Approximately  one  third  of  this 
amount is dedicated to investments and reforms to drive the digitalisation of health systems 
which help strengthen the resilience of health systems. 

58 

 
 
 
Figure 25: Number of measures in pillar 5 with milestones and targets satisfactorily fulfilled 
since the last RRF annual report, per policy area 

76

Effectiveness of public administration and national
systems, including minimising administrative burden
*Healthcare: resilience, sustainability, adequacy,
availability, accessibility and quality, including…

Fraud prevention

Tax measures, including measures pertaining to
aggressive tax planning

Fiscal policy and fiscal governance
0

19

18

19

13

16

3

4

17

Effectiveness of judicial systems

5

13

Rule of Law reforms
0

12

*Long-term care: resilience, sustainability, adequacy,
availability, accessibility and quality, including…

2

8

Crisis preparedness

6

2

Anti-money laundering supervision
0

7

Financial sector reforms
0

6

Strategic autonomy

2

3

Crisis reaction capacity

2

2

Business and public service continuity (in crisis)

1

0

20

40

60

80

100

Investments

Reforms

Note: The methodology for reporting social expenditure, as defined in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2105, is fully aligned 
and integrated into the methodology for reporting expenditure under the six pillars. Under this pillar, the policy areas marked 
with an asterisk (*) are used for the social expenditure methodology. 
Source: European Commission. 

Several Member States finance long-term care reforms and investments under the RRF. 
Access to affordable high-quality long-term care services is important for addressing the care 
needs of the ageing population as well as those of persons with disabilities. The RRF is in line 
with the ongoing long-term care policy developments in the field, most notably the European 
Care Strategy,  the European Pillar of Social Rights, and Council Recommendation on long-
term  care58.  Reforms  are  to  improve  incentives  for  homecare  and  community-based  care, 
including  by  de-institutionalising  care  provision.  Overall,  a  total  of  EUR  7.3  billion  is 
allocated 18 Member States for a total of 52 (sub-)measures (22 reforms and 30 investments). 

To date, 50 milestones and targets related to the policy areas of healthcare and of long-
term care have been fulfilled since 1 March 2022.  

58 Council Recommendation of 8 December 2022 on access to affordable high-quality long-term care 2022/C 
476/01. 

59 

 
 
 
 
 
Examples of relevant measures with fulfilled milestones and targets under the health, 
and economic, social, and institutional resilience pillar (‘healthcare’ and ‘long-term 
care’ policy areas) 

Reforms: 

➢  Bulgaria  adopted  the  National  Strategy  for  the  Mental  Health  of  Citizens  of  the 
Republic  of  Bulgaria  2021-2030  and  an  action  plan  for  the  implementation  of  the 
strategy. This step is part of a reform which aims to provide the strategic underpinning 
of  future  investments  and  reforms  in  the  field  of  healthcare  by  identifying  relevant 
recommendations and actions. As such, the reform includes the adoption of a number 
of strategies and plans, covering relevant healthcare areas.  

➢  Czechia  approved  the  National  Oncological  Programme  2022-2030  in  consultation 
with  key  actors  and  stakeholders  and  set-up  of  the  National  Council  for  the 
Implementation of the programme. The milestone is linked to the reform which aims to 
increase the resilience of the cancer prevention and care system in Czechia, reflecting 
the priorities set out in Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. 

➢  Denmark  issued a  report  of the assessment of stocks  of critical drugs by the Danish 
Medicines Agency. This milestone relates to the measure which aims to maintain and 
ensure the stock of critical drugs in the secondary health sector of Denmark avoiding 
critical  situations  with  shortages  of  important  drugs.  Denmark  achieved  also  another 
milestone  by  preparing  an  evaluation  about  telemedicine  solutions  of  health  anxiety 
related  to  the  COVID-19  pandemic  to  further  develop  and  increase  the  use  of 
telemedicine  and  patient  involvement.  The  milestone  forms  part  of  a  measure  which 
aims  to  develop  new  digital  solutions  and  foster  the  widespread  use  of  digital 
technologies, patient involvement and the telemedicine.  

➢  In  Italy,  legislation  providing  for  the  definition  of  a  new  organisational  model  of 
territorial healthcare assistance network entered into force. This milestone is linked to a 
reform  that  establishes  a  new  model  of  territorial  healthcare  assistance  and  creates  a 
new institutional structure of Health-Environment-Climate prevention. 

➢  Portugal  ensured  the  entry  into  force  of  the  new  Mental  Health  Decree-Law,  which 
sets  out  the  guiding  principles  for  the  organisation,  management  and  evaluation  of 
mental  health  care  services.  This  milestone  constitutes  one  of  the  main  pillars  of  the 
mental  health  reform  which  aims  to  improve  the  management  of  mental  health  in 
Portugal  by  creating  more 
the  de-
institutionalisation of patients with mental illness, the expansion of local and integrated 
continued  care  services  in  the  field  of  mental  health,  the  organisation  of  forensic 
psychiatric services, and the implementation of regional health plans for dementia. 

framework  conditions 

favourable 

for 

60 

 
 
 
Investment 

➢  Austria  adopted  and  published  the  funding  guidelines  for  establishing  new  primary 
health  care  units  and  for  projects  improving  the  already  existing  primary  health  care 
units.  This  step  is  part  of  the  investment  which  aims  to  improve  sustainability  and 
resilience in healthcare by strengthening public health and primary health care. 

Institutional resilience 

Implementation  of  measures  enhancing  institutional  resilience  is  also  ongoing.  Several 
Member  States  have  adopted  significant  rule  of  law  reforms,  for  instance,  improving  the 
quality  of  the  legislative  process  or  strengthening  the  independence  of  the  judiciary. 
Considerable progress has also been made to reinforce the efficiency of judicial systems, with 
dedicated  measures  ranging  from  organisational  changes  of  proceedings  to  reforming  the 
structure  of  courts.  Member  States’  efforts  have  also  allowed  to  step  up  the  fight  against 
corruption  and  improve  the  anti-money  laundering  supervision,  in  particular  through  the 
adoption of national policy documents such as action plans and strategies. 

Numerous  measures  aimed  at  achieving  modern  and  agile  public  administrations 
serving EU citizens and businesses have already been implemented. These span from the 
investments dedicated to the monitoring of the implementation, audit and control of the RRPs 
to the reforms designed to simplify public administration and remove administrative barriers. 
Several  public  administration  digitalisation  measures  are  underway,  for  example  in 
Luxembourg and Croatia. Some Member States focused on the civil service capacities, more 
precisely,  more  transparent  recruiting  systems  and  reducing  the  temporary  employments  in 
public administration. 

A  majority  of  the  crisis  preparedness  and  response  measures  already  implemented 
under  the  RRF  target  climate  change  adaptation,  healthcare  and  digital  technology. 
Measures aimed at efficient, secure and shared digital critical infrastructures, including secure 
mobile communications system for government employees, are underway. Significant efforts 
have  been  made  in  the  forest  management  and  in  preventing  forest  fires  and  reducing  their 
impact. In healthcare, while the implementation of related measures is ongoing, the uptake of 
telemedicine has increased, helping mitigate the disruption to health service delivery caused 
by the COVID-19 crisis. 

Examples of relevant measures with fulfilled milestones and targets under the health, 
and economic, social, and institutional resilience pillar (‘effectiveness of public 
administration’ policy area) 

Reforms: 

➢  The Digitalisation Fund Act has entered into force in Austria. The Act will accelerate 
digitalisation of the federal administration, improving services for citizen & businesses.  

➢  Bulgaria  adopted  a  Roadmap  for  the  implementation  of  judgments  of  the  European 

61 

 
 
Court of Human Rights. 

➢  Croatia  adopted  a  new  anti-corruption  strategy  for  2021-2030.  It  aims  to  strengthen 
the institutional and normative framework for the fight against corruption, enhance the 
transparency  and  openness  of  the  work  of  public  authorities,  strengthen  integrity  and 
conflict  of  interest  management  systems,  enhance  anti-corruption  potential  in  the 
public  procurement  system  and  raise  public  awareness  of  the  harm  brought  about  by 
corruption, the need to report irregularities and enhance transparency. 

➢  A law to protect whistle-blowers reporting fraud and corruption from internal sanctions 
entered into force in Cyprus. Together with the entry into force of the law establishing 
the Independent Authority against Corruption and with the entry into force of the law 
on  Transparency  in  Decision-Making  and  Related  Matters,  it  provides  greater 
coherence in the fight against corruption.  

➢  Greece has launched the  introduction of the  performance-based pay system  in  public 

administration by adopting the primary legislation for the pilot phase. 

➢  Malta  has  strengthened  the  independence  of  its  judiciary  through  a  reform  of  the 
method  of  appointments  and  dismissals  of  judges  and  magistrates.  Furthermore,  the 
Judicial  Appointments  Committee  is  now  to  be  composed  mostly  of  members  of  the 
judiciary to reduce the risks of political interference. Public calls must now be issued 
for  vacancies  within  the  judiciary  which  will  increase  the  transparency  in  the 
appointment process. 

The Composition of the Maltese Judicial Appointments Committee has been changed  

Copyright: Maltese government 

➢  Malta  has  also  implemented  a  comprehensive  set  of  anti-corruption  measures, 
including a publication of a National Anti-Fraud and Corruption Strategy and granting 

62 

 
 
 
 
of statutory reinforcement to the Permanent Commission Against Corruption to ensure 
that its reports are transmitted directly to the Attorney General. 

➢  Slovakia reorganised its judicial map, defining a new system of courts. The aim of the 
reform is to better organise and structure the various court agendas and their physical 
location,  as  well  as  the  (re)allocation  of  judges  to  court  agendas  and  districts,  thus 
creating scope for more effective and faster court decisions. 

Fiscal resilience and taxation  

Several Member States have already implemented important measures under the RRF 
to  improve  the  management  of  public  finances,  both  on  the  revenue  and  on  the 
expenditure side. Numerous measures aim at improving tax collection and discouraging tax 
evasion, including by fostering digitalisation of transactions, tax collection and selection for 
audits.  These  measures  are  expected  to  support  national  revenues,  combat  the  shadow 
economy and reduce compliance costs for taxpayers. Some Member States have also launched 
comprehensive  reforms  of  their  tax  systems,  aimed  at  supporting  economic  growth  and 
improving fairness. Concerning public expenditure, several steps have been taken in a number 
of  Member  States  in  order  to  launch  spending  reviews,  integrate  them  in  the  national 
budgetary process, or, where this was already achieved, improve their design and strengthen 
their  governance.  Some  Member  States  have  also  taken  measures  aimed  at  improving  the 
management of state-owned enterprises, enhancing budget forecasting tools and refining the 
accounting framework. 

Examples of relevant measures with fulfilled milestones and targets under the health, 
and economic, social, and institutional resilience pillar (‘fiscal policy and fiscal 
governance’ and ‘tax measures’ policy areas) 

Reforms: 

➢  Italy has implemented a comprehensive set of measures against tax evasion, aimed at 
encouraging compliance and improving controls. The targeting of tax audits has been 
refined  thanks  to  machine  learning  techniques  and  interlinked  data-sets,  which  now 
also  include  corporate  data  on  electronic  transactions.  Italy  has  also  extended  the 
compulsory  use  of  electronic  invoicing  to  previously  exempted  sectors,  further 
encouraged  electronic  payments  and  improved  the  lottery  of  receipts  to  discourage 
omitted invoicing. 

➢  Spain  has  established  a  permanent  unit  within  the  Independent  Authority  for  Fiscal 
Responsibility (AIReF) to carry out spending reviews and changed the organisational 
structure of the Ministry of Finance to systematically follow up on recommendations of 
the spending reviews. These reforms aim at improving the quality of public spending. 
Spain  has  also  revised  the  Law  Against  Tax  evasion  and  Fraud  and  updated  the 
Spanish  list  of  non-cooperative  jurisdictions  in  tax  matters.  These  measures  aim  at 

63 

 
 
achieving higher tax compliance and making the tax system fairer. 

Investments: 

➢  Romania  implemented  an  investment  aiming  to  improve  tax  administration  through 
the implementation of integrated risk management. The investment is expected to have 
an impact on the level of tax compliance and achievement of budget revenue, ensuring 
a competitive market environment and increasing the efficiency of tax collection. This 
specific  measure  envisages  that  at  least  150,000  cash  registers  are  connected  to  the 
National  Agency  for  Fiscal  Administration’s  electronic  system.  The  full  connection 
shall address in particular fraud in the area of trade and contribute to reducing the VAT 
gap. 

3.6.  Contribution  of  the  Facility  to  policies  for  the  next  generation,  children  and  the 
youth, such as education and skills (i.e. Pillar 6) 

Measures under the policies for the next generation, children and youth focus primarily 
on  education,  training,  early  childhood  education  and  care  as  well  as  measures  to 
support  youth  employment.  The  27  RRPs  adopted  by  the  Council  support  pillar  6  with 
about  EUR  54.9  billion.  Around  three  quarters  of  the  total  expenditure  related  to  pillar  six 
contribute to general, vocational, and higher education. The remaining 25% is almost equally 
split  between  early  childhood  education  and  care,  and  youth  employment  support.  The 
breakdown of expenditure within the pillar is shown in Figure 26. 

Out of the 705 milestones and targets satisfactorily fulfilled so far, 64 contribute to pillar 
6,  including  61  milestones  and  targets  satisfactorily  fulfilled  since  1  March  2022.  56 
milestones  and  targets  in  45  measures  in  the  policy  area  of  general,  vocational  and  higher 
education have been fulfilled since 1 March 2022 (Figure 27). The milestones and targets in 
pillar 6 are associated with measures fostering quality, improving access and inclusiveness of 
the  education  systems,  strengthening  active  labour  market  policies,  supporting  digital 
transformation  in  education,  providing  training  and  support  for  teachers,  furthering  the 
modernisation  of  vocational  training,  as  well  as  providing  support  for  higher  education  and 
cooperation with the public administration and businesses.  

64 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 26: Breakdown of expenditure supporting policies for next generation, per policy area 

*General, vocational, and higher education:
Accessibility, affordability, quality and inclusiveness,
including digitisation and infrastructure

*Early childhood education and care: Accessibility,
affordability, quality and inclusiveness, including
digitisation and infrastructure

*Youth employment support and youth job creation,
including hiring and job transition incentives and support
for self-employment

14%

11%

75%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

Note:  This  chart  shows  a  breakdown  of  the  estimated  contribution  to  the  policy  pillar  according  to  a  list  of  policy  areas 
established  by  the  European  Commission.  The  percentage  relates  to  the  overall  share  of  the  plan  tagged  under  this  policy 
pillar.  The  methodology  for  reporting  social  expenditure,  as  defined  in Delegated  Regulation  (EU)  2021/2105,  is  fully 
aligned and integrated into the methodology for reporting expenditure under the six pillars. Under this pillar, the policy areas 
marked with an asterisk (*) are used for the social expenditure methodology. 
Source: Recovery and Resilience Scoreboard. 

Figure 27: Number of measures in pillar 6 with milestones and targets satisfactorily fulfilled 
since the last RRF annual report, per policy area 

*General, vocational, and higher education:
Accessibility, affordability, quality and inclusiveness,
including digitisation and infrastructure

21

24

*Youth employment support and youth job creation,
including hiring and job transition incentives and
support for self-employment

2

2

*Early childhood education and care: Accessibility,
affordability, quality and inclusiveness, including
digitisation and infrastructure

1

3

0

20

40

Investments

Reforms

Note: The methodology for reporting social expenditure, as defined in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2105, is fully aligned 
and integrated into the methodology for reporting expenditure under the six pillars. Under this pillar, the policy areas marked 
with an asterisk (*) are used for the social expenditure methodology. 
Source: European Commission. 

65 

 
 
 
General,  Vocational,  And  Higher  Education:  Accessibility,  Affordability,  Quality  And 
Inclusiveness, Including Digitisation And Infrastructure 

Investments  and  reforms  totalling  more  than  EUR  43.2  billion  in  general  school 
education will support improvements in quality and inclusiveness.  Some Member States 
will offer individualised support to disadvantaged schools and students, including mentoring, 
including  in  view  of  overcoming  learning  gaps  and  preventing  early  school  leaving.  Other 
measures include investments to increase the number of instruction hours and enable whole-
day  schooling.  Several  measures  address  issues  such  as  implementing  curricular  reforms, 
reforming  teachers’  recruitment  mechanisms,  improving  education  of  children  with  special 
needs,  supporting  low  performing  students,  improving  external  evaluation  of  schools  or 
supporting desegregation measures.  

Most  countries  plan  to  invest  in  the  digital  infrastructure  and  connectivity  of  schools, 
often  with  a  focus  on  disadvantaged  and  rural  schools.  These  investments  include 
transforming  classrooms  into  flexible  and  connected  learning  environments  and  equipping 
learners and teachers with digital devices to reduce the digital divide. Digital competences of 
pupils  will  be  improved  through  the  adaptation  of  the  school  curricula  and  development  of 
digital resources and digital content. Many Member States include teacher training on digital 
education in their plans. 

Some  Member  States  will  use  the  RRF  to  support  the  transformation  of  their  higher 
education  with  a  broad  range  of  measures.  Measures  include  modernising  study 
programmes,  expanding  study  places,  launching  new  study  courses,  reviewing  funding 
models  in  higher  education,  developing  quality  assurance  and  governance  mechanisms, 
introducing graduate tracking systems, and internationalising higher education. Furthermore, 
improving access to higher education will be funded by a number of Member States such as, 
for example, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Spain,  France, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Romania, 
Finland and Sweden. 

Early  Childhood  Education  and  Care:  Accessibility,  Affordability,  Quality  And 
Inclusiveness, Including Digitisation And Infrastructure 

Investments  and  reforms  amounting  to  more  than  EUR  8  billion  in  quality  inclusive 
early  childhood  education  and  care  are  expected  to  increase  participation  rates,  in 
particular among disadvantaged groups, and thus reduce inequalities and contributing 
to the implementation of the European Child Guarantee59. More than half of the Member 
States included measures to improve access to early childhood education and care (ECEC) by 
expanding  its  capacities,  inclusiveness  and/or  quality.  The  provision  of  quality  affordable 
ECEC  facilitates,  on  the  one  hand,  equal  opportunities  for  all  children  regardless  of  their 
socio-economic background, and, on the other hand, the labour market integration of carers, 
most often women, reducing risk of poverty or social exclusion. Investments in infrastructure 
construction and renovation are often accompanied by reforms. For instance, countries plan to 

59 Council Recommendation (EU) 2021/1004. 

66 

 
 
 
lower the age of compulsory pre-school education, introduce a legal entitlement for a place, 
review  the  financing  model,  reduce  early  childhood  education  and  care  fees,  improve  early 
diagnosis  and  support  for  children  with  disabilities,  review  the  recruitment  system  for  early 
childhood  education  and  care  staff,  and  to  adopt  the  legal  framework  to  facilitate  access  to 
training and opportunities for further professionalisation of staff. 

Youth Employment Support and Youth Job Creation, Including Hiring And Job Transition 
Incentives And Support For Self-Employment 

Measures to support youth employment encompass subsidies for traineeships, investments 
to  customise  public  employment  services  to  young  people,  enhance  youth  coaching  and 
individual guidance towards employment and autonomy, and schemes to incentivise hiring of 
young people by the private sector amounting to around EUR 6.1 billion. 

Examples of relevant measures with fulfilled milestones and targets under the policies 
for the next generation pillar 

Reforms: 

➢  Bulgaria  fulfilled  three  milestones  which  aim  to  enhance  the  effectiveness  of  the 
education system at all levels – pre-school, school and higher education. These include 
amendments  in  the  Pre-school  and  School  Education  Act  and  related  secondary 
legislation,  including  making  pre-school  education  mandatory  as  of  the  age  of  four, 
amendments to the Higher Education Act to introduce a revised accreditation system for 
higher education institutions, and the adoption of a National Map of Higher Education. 

Bulgaria has improved the effectiveness of its school system 

➢  Czechia  met  several  milestones  and  targets  in  the  area  of  education.  A  reform  revised 
the  curricula  of  primary,  lower-secondary  and  upper-secondary  schools  in  view  of 
promoting digital literacy and advanced IT skills such as data processing and modelling, 
coding and programming, robotics, and virtual/augmented reality. Moreover, at least 20 
universities  have  been  selected  for  supporting  their  development  of  new  study 

67 

 
 
 
programmes focusing on upskilling and reskilling. 

➢  Italy  saw  the  entry  into  force  of  the  reform  on  the  teaching  profession.  The  reform 
consists of four points: i) the improvement and simplification of the public competition 
procedures;  ii)  strengthening  of  the  qualification  needed  to  access  the  teaching 
profession; iii) the establishment of a more effective teachers’ mobility framework in the 
interest  of  teaching  continuity;  and  iv)  setting  a  career  progression  linked  to  the 
performance evaluation and continuous professional development. 

Investments: 

➢  Czechia provided 74 000 digital devices (tablets, laptops, mobile phones, etc.)  to 4102 

primary and secondary schools for distance learning.  

3.7.  Contribution  of  the  Facility  to  social  policy,  including  gender  equality  as  well  as 
children and youth 

Social policy 

Member  States  have  included  a  significant  number  of  measures  in  their  RRPs  that 
foster social policy,  including related to gender equality as  well as children and youth, 
thereby  supporting  the  implementation  of  the  European  Pillar  of  Social  Rights.  Of  the 
2042  milestones  and  targets  that  foster  social  policy,  213  milestones  or  targets  have  been 
fulfilled,  including  199  fulfilled  since  1  March  2022  (see  section  3.4,  3.5  and  3.6  for  a 
targeted  analysis  of  measures  contributing  to  employment  and  skills,  education  and  early 
childhood education and care, health and long-term care as well as social policies). 

A  total  of  around  EUR  139.8  billion  allocated  by  Member  States  contribute  to  social 
spending60, which represents about 28% of the total estimated expenditure. Around one 
third of this amount is dedicated to spending on education and early childhood education and 
care,  another  one  third  on  health  and  long-term  care,  while  the  rest  is  divided  between 
spending on employment and skills, and social policies (Figure 28). 

60 Given the importance of social spending in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic, the RRF Regulation empowered the 
Commission to adopt a delegated act establishing a methodology to report on social expenditure, including on children and 
the youth, under the RRF (Article 29(4)b). The methodology adopted by the Commission classifies all expenditure financed 
by the Facility relating to reforms and investments into nine broad policy areas, which are then aggregated into four social 
categories: (1) employment and skills, 2) education and childcare, 3) health and long-term care, and 4) social policies. Please 
see Delegated Regulation 2021/2105. 

68 

 
 
 
 
Figure 28: Share of RRF social expenditure by main social categories 

Employment And Skills Education And Childcare Health And Long-Term Care Social Policies

14%

19%

33%

34%

Note: This figure shows the breakdown of estimated social expenditures in all endorsed RRPs. Social categories are defined 
and  applied  based  on  the  methodology  adopted  by  the  Commission  in  consultation  with  the  European  Parliament  and  the 
Member States in the Delegated Regulation 2021/2105. 
Source: Recovery and Resilience Scoreboard 

Gender equality 

Member  States’  RRPs  contribute  to  gender  equality  in  several  ways.  The  27  plans 
adopted contain (sub-)134 measures with a focus on gender equality, and many reforms and 
investments  that  are  explicitly  aimed  at  contributing  to  equal  opportunities  in  general.  The 
breakdown  of  gender  equality  relevant  measures  per  Member  State  is  provided  in  Figure 
29.6162 

61  Figures  are  illustrative,  meant  to  be  used  for  qualitative  analysis,  and  do  not  constitute  a  comparative  assessment  of 
Member States’ RRPs. The number and structure of the measures in each national plan vary greatly, as well as the approach 
to reflect commitments to gender equality. More detailed analysis can be found in the Staff Working Documents adopted by 
the European Commission for each endorsed plan, as well as the Thematic Analysis on Equality on the RRF Scoreboard. 
62  Following  the  methodology  for  reporting  social  expenditure  as  set  out  in  Delegated  Regulation  (EU)  2021/2105,  the 
Commission flagged measures that include a focus on gender equality. It should be noted that the Commission applied this 
methodology not only to measures of a social nature, but also to all other measures included in adopted RRPs having a focus 
on  gender  equality,  in  order  to  better  capture  these  throughout  the  plans.  This  did  not  have  to  be  the  main  focus  of  the 
concerned  measures.  Measures  not  flagged  as  such  may  also  have  an  impact  on  gender  equality.  Figures  presented  here 
constitute the number and share of overall measures with such focus, and not the costs related to them. 

69 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 29: Share (in %) of measures having a focus on gender equality in adopted RRPs  

12%

10%

8%

6%

4%

2%

0%

AT BE BG HR CY CZ DK EE FI FR DE EL HU IE IT LV LT LU MT NL PL PT RO SK SI SE ES

Source: Recovery and Resilience Scoreboard 

In  addition  to  measures  explicitly  contributing  to  equal  opportunities,  Member  States 
included  other  reforms  and  investments  in  their  plans  that  mainstream  equality 
considerations. This sometimes entails explicit sub-targets or other provisions ensuring that 
the needs  of specific groups  are taken into  account  in  other  policy  areas.  At the same time, 
even if measures in the areas of labour market, housing, energy, transport, and digitalisation 
may  not  initially  be  regarded  as  policies  contributing  to  equality,  their  effective 
implementation  can  have  a  significant  contribution  to  fostering  equal  opportunities.  For 
example,  reforms  and  investments  in  infrastructure,  public  transport  or  digital  connectivity 
may not have been designed for the purpose of equal opportunities but  may have a positive 
impact in terms of access to remote education, essential (health) services and utilities, or by 
allowing  people  with  limited  mobility  or  living  in  remote  areas  to  participate  in  economic 
activities and social life. 

Member  States  are  progressing  with  the  implementation  of  measures  with  a  focus  on 
gender equality. Of the 134 (sub-)measures with a focus on gender equality in the 27 RRPs, 
25 (sub-)measures contain milestones or targets that are fulfilled, including 20 since 1 March 
2023.  Examples  of  measures  with  a  focus  on  gender  equality  with  fulfilled  milestones  and 
targets are presented in the box below. 

70 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Examples of relevant measures with fulfilled milestones and targets with a focus on 
gender equality  

Reforms: 

➢  Croatia  adopted  a  new  labour  law  that  includes  provisions  for  more  flexibility  in 
working time and the place of work, as well as provisions reducing the gender pay gap. 
The additional flexibility allows especially parents and care providers to make more use 
of part-time work arrangements. 

➢  Spain introduced new legislation to ensure equal pay between men and women through 
the  obligation  of  equal  pay  for  work  of  equal  value,  fostering  pay  transparency  to 
identify  and  avoid  discrimination  and  developing  instruments  to  comply  with  the 
principle of pay transparency. 

Investments: 

➢  Italy implemented an investment supporting the creation and growth of enterprises led 
by women, by setting up a new fund and strengthening two existing ones as of 2021. The 
related milestone was satisfactorily fulfilled as part of the first payment request. The first 
700  firms  are  expected  to  be  entitled  to  support  as  of  July  2023  and,  according  to 
national data, by June 2023 more than 1,000 firms were officially selected. Italy also set 
up  a  gender  equality  certification  system  to  encourage  and  incentivise  corporate 
practices conducive to gender equality. 

Children and youth 

The 425 (sub-)measures with a focus on children and youth are spread over a number of 
policy  areas,  primarily  in  the  field  of  education  and  training.  A  dedicated  analysis  on 
policies for the next generation, children and the youth, for instance in the area of education 
and training, can be found in section 3.6.  

Of the measures with a focus on youth and children in the 27 RRPs, 83 (sub-)measures 
contain milestones or targets that are fulfilled, including 79 (sub-)measures with a M&T 
fulfilled  since  1  March  2022.  A  large  number  of  Member  States  started  with  reforms  and 
investments  supporting  children  and  youth.  Examples  of  measures  supporting  children  and 
youth with fulfilled milestones and targets are presented in the box below. 

Examples of relevant measures with fulfilled milestones and targets with a focus on 
children and youth 

Reforms: 

➢  Austria introduced a remedial education package and related support measures focused 
in  particular  on  disadvantaged  pupils,  including  the  provision  of  resources  for  support 
lessons,  group/class  divisions,  individual  support  measures,  and  supplementary  lessons 

71 

 
 
during the summer holidays. Many additional support classes have already taken place, 
aiming  to  compensate  for  the  accumulated  learning  deficits  and  potential  losses  in 
education during the COVID-19 pandemic.  

➢  Bulgaria has implemented the first part of the reform of pre-school and school education 
and  lifelong  learning,  including  a  new  obligation  for  children  to  attend  pre-school 
education from the age of four. Other amendments to the Act included an update of the 
science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) core curricula and additional 
distance learning opportunities. 

➢  Lithuania  started  reforming  its  vocational  guidance  system,  with  a  focus  on  career 
counselling  and  lifelong  learning,  to  better  connect  supply  and  demand  on  the  labour 
market.  The  first  completed  steps  have  established  the  framework  and  management  of 
the system, the competency requirements of career professionals, the funding system for 
services provided, the scope of the involvement of institutions and social partners. 

➢  Malta  started  implementing  a  reform  to  enhance  quality  inclusive  education,  in 
particular by setting up new autism units in middle schools, benefiting young people on 
the  autism  spectrum  who  now  have  access  to  equipment  accommodating  their  specific 
educational needs. 

Investments: 

➢  France supported the employment of young people with over 337 000 hiring subsidies 
in  the  first  half  of  2021  for  youth  under  26  years  old.  The  subsidies  were  paid  to  the 
employer  for  the  conclusion  of  a  fixed-term  contract  (of  at  least  three  months)  or  an 
open-ended contract for youth under 26, in moderately qualified or entry-level jobs.  

Disadvantaged groups 

Several Member States’ RRPs also include measures to address the economic and social 
integration of persons with disabilities as well as the protection and integration of other 
disadvantaged  groups,  such  as  people  with  a  migrant  background  or  Roma.  Besides 
several measures targeted to youth with a focus on disadvantaged groups as described above, 
Member States introduce for instance incentives for employers to hire people with disabilities 
and  to  support  their  integration  in  the  labour  market  or  make  targeted  efforts  to  remove 
barriers  in  public  buildings  and  to  facilitate  the  participation  of  persons  with  disabilities  in 
education and their inclusion in society. 

Since  1  March  2022,  several  Member  States  (e.g.  Austria,  Croatia,  Italy,  Portugal, 
Slovakia,  and  Spain)  completed  or  initiated  important  reforms  and/or  investments 
promoting the inclusion of disadvantaged groups, such as people with disabilities, people 
with  a  migrant  or  minority  ethnic  background.  These  measures  sometimes  explicitly 
address  the  Roma  population.  In  addition,  some  Member  States  undertook  reforms  and 
investments  to  improve  and/or  digitalise  the  reception  system  for  migrants  and  refugees. 

72 

 
 
Examples  of  measures  supporting  the  inclusion  of  disadvantaged  groups  with  fulfilled 
milestones and targets are presented in the box below.  

Examples of relevant measures with fulfilled milestones and targets with a focus on 
disadvantaged groups 

Reforms: 

➢  Slovakia  introduced  a  new,  accelerated  visa  scheme,  targeting  highly  qualified  third-
country nationals seeking employment, by allowing them to immediately start working 
on the basis of a national visa. 

➢  Greece  introduced  a  law  to  enable  the  transition  towards  community-based  care  for 
disability and launched the first step of a pilot phase for a personal assistance scheme. 

➢  Croatia has implemented the training of 256 social mentoring professionals, through 15 
modules in 9 towns: Varaždin, Karlovac, Zagreb, Slavonski Brod, Split, Osijek, Zadar, 
Rijeka  and  Pula.  The  aim  of  the  training  was  to  strengthen  the  competencies  of 
professionals  in  the  social  welfare  system  to  support  the  implementation  of  a  social 
mentoring  service  as  successfully  as  possible  when  working  with  individuals  in  a 
marginalised position in society or at risk. 

➢  Italy  supported  projects  aimed  at  increasing  the  autonomy  of  people  with  disabilities. 
Projects  consist  of  renovation  of  home  spaces  and  provision  of  information  and 
communication devices to disabled people with disabilities, accompanied by training on 
digital skills. At the end of 2022, more than 500 projects had already been delivered to 
people  with  disabilities  by  the  responsible  social  districts.  The  overall  objective  is  to 
reach at least 5,000 people with disabilities by the end of March 2026 across the whole 
country. 

73 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Project inaugurated in Casa Vitinia, Roma at the end of 2022, consisting of the delivery of 
a renovated home and training opportunities related to digital skills to 12 people with 
disabilities 

Copyright: Italian government 

Investment: 

➢  Latvia  provided  access  to  learning  content  and  enable  socially  vulnerable  groups  to 
participate  in  remote  learning.  A  framework  for  organisation  and  implementation  of 
remote learning in educational institutions was approved in 2021. The investment in the 
RRP  consists  of  purchasing  information  and  communication  technology  equipment  for 
general education institutions, with targeted support for pupils from socially vulnerable 
groups, teachers and the creation of a “computer library” in educational institutions. 

3.8. Contribution cross-border & multi-country projects 

The  RRF  supports  Member  States’  participation  in  cross-border  projects,  with  the 
planning  of  reforms  and  investments  taking  place  at  the  same  time  in  a  coordinated  way. 
While  each  RRP  reflects  the  specific  situation  of  each  Member  State,  some  common 
challenges  call  for  coordinated  reforms  and  investments.  Multi-country  collaboration  can 
enable the support to large projects that a single Member State could not develop on its own 
and allow to pool resources, thereby increasing the impact and achieving economies of scale 
and synergies. 

During  the  preparation  of  the  plans,  the  Commission  encouraged  Member  States  to 
participate  in  key  multi-country  projects,  which  would  enhance  coordination  for  critical 
investments  in  strategic  sectors  –  and  provide  tangible  benefits  to  the  Single  Market.  The 
importance of multi-country projects has further been strengthened in the  amendment of the 
RRF Regulation, which requires through an additional assessment criterion that a strong focus 
is  placed  on  all  measures  introduced  under  the  REPowerEU  chapter  to  contribute  to  cross-
border or multi-country projects.  

74 

 
 
 
Green transition 

More than half of the RRPs include measures contributing to multi-country projects or 
cross-border initiatives related to measures under the green transition pillar (see Table 8 
below): In total, more than 38 measures are relevant for green multi-country or cross-border 
projects. 

•  The  multi-country  projects  with  the  highest  take-up  in  RRPs  are  the  ‘Important 
Projects  of  Common  European  Interest’  (IPCEI)  measures  on  hydrogen  (included  in 
nine  measures  of  six  Member  States).  Multi-country  projects  related  to  the  green 
transition  also  include  two  electric  interconnectors  (EUR  0.3  billion)  and  the  rail 
interconnector between Verona and Brenner (EUR 0.9 billion). 

•  Several  cross-border  projects  will  foster  EU  interoperability  of  railway,  with  a 
significant cross-border dimension. Some of these projects relate to the deployment 
of  the  European  Rail  Traffic  Management  System  (ERTMS)  (five  RRPs,  eight 
projects, EUR 3.4 billion). ERTMS is about interoperability, digitisation and safety of 
train services and is key to shift traffic from road to rail for railway freight on cross-
border  routes.  Investment  needs  in  terms  of  rail  signalling  across  the  entire  EU  are 
significant,  given  that  only  11%  of  the  Trans-European  Transport  Network  (TEN-T) 
corridors are adequately equipped. In addition, the RRF will finance the deployment of 
TEN-T rail corridors (e.g., RailBaltica, Mediterranean (Spain-France), Scandinavian-
Mediterranean  (Italian  section)  North  Sea-Mediterranean  (Belgium-Luxembourg)  for 
an  amount  exceeding  EUR  24.9  billion  (representing  in  11  RRPs,  17  measures  and 
more than 40 milestones and targets).  

Since  the  last  annual  report  of  the  RRF  in  March  2022,  five  milestones  and  targets 
related  to  green  cross-border  and/or  multi-country  projects,  from  a  total  of  10,  have 
been  satisfactory  fulfilled.  Furthermore,  due  to  the  revision  of  the  RRPs,  one  measure  on 
TEN-T corridors has been removed on the basis of Article 18 of the RRF Regulation, while 
another measure has been added on rail interconnection on the basis of Article 21. In addition, 
the Commission has approved REPowerEU chapters comprising measures with a cross-border 
nature  from  the  following  Member  States:  Estonia,  France,  Slovakia  and  Malta  (for  further 
information, see section 4.2: REPowerEU). 

Table 8: Multi-country projects relating to measures under the Green Transition pillar 

E
B

G
B

Z
C

K
D

E
D

E
E

E
I

L
E

S
E

R
F

R
H

T
I

Y
C

V
L

T
L

U
L

U
H

T
M

L
N

T
A

L
P

T
P

O
R

I
S

K
S

I
F

E
S

l
a
t
o
T

IPCEI Hydrogen  ● 

  ● 

  ●  ● 

  ● 

  ● 

  ● 

  7 

Electric 
interconnector 
Rail 
interconnector 

  ● 

  ● 

  ● 

  ● 

ERTMS 

  ● 

  ● 

  ● 

  ● 

  ● 

TEN-T corridors  ●  ● 

  ●  ● 

  ●  ● 

  ● 

  ●  ● 

  ●  ● 

Source: Recovery and Resilience Plans of all 27 Member States 

75 

  2 

  2 

  5 

  11 

 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Digital transition 

Most RRPs also include measures contributing to multi-country projects or cross border 
initiatives related to the digital transition, with 21 out  of the 27 plans incorporating such 
projects.  In  total,  more  than  50  (sub-)measures  contribute  to  multi-country  or  cross-border 
projects.  

The RRPs will, through the digital multi-country projects,  contribute to EU priorities. 
12 RRPs include contributions to the multi-country project on microelectronics, which aims to 
strengthen  the  EU’s  competitiveness  in  semiconductor  technologies.  Eight  Member  States 
include  in  their  RRPs  support  to  the  European  Network  of  Digital  Innovation  Hubs,  which 
will help foster digitalisation in SMEs. Multiple RRPs also include support to multi-country 
projects  supporting  the development  and deployment of cross-border 5G corridors, of cloud 
the  area  of  microelectronics,  quantum 
in 
infrastructure  and  services,  capacities 
communication  infrastructure,  and  high-performance  computing,  among  others.  Table  9 
summarises the uptake of digital multi-country projects in the 27 RRPs. 

Since the beginning of the RRF, 13 milestones and targets related to digital cross-border 
and/or  multi-country  projects  have  been  satisfactory  fulfilled.  (Furthermore,  due  to  the 
revision  of  the  RRPs,  certain  measures  have  been  removed,  based  on  either  Article  18  or 
Article 21 of the RRF Regulation). 

Table 9. Digital multi-country projects 

E
B

G
B

Z
C

K
D

E
D

E
E

E
I

L
E

S
E

R
F

R
H

T
I

Y
C

V
L

T
L

U
L

U
H

T
M

L
N

T
A

L
P

T
P

O
R

I
S

K
S

I
F

E
S

l
a
t
o
T

Micro-
electronics 
European Digital  
Innovation  
Hubs 

● 

  ● 

  ● 

   ●  ● 

   ● 

  ● 

  ● 

   ●  ●  ●  ● 

  ● 

  ● 

   ● 

   ●  ● 

  ● 

   ● 

   ● 

  12  

  8  

5G corridors 

  ● 

  ●  ● 

  ● 

  ●  ● 

Cloud  

  ● 

  ●  ● 

  ● 

  ● 

  ● 

  ● 

  ● 

  7 

  7 

  4 

Euro Quantum 
Communication 
Infrastructures 
Euro High Perf. 
Computing 
Connected 
public 
administration 
Genome of 
Europe 
Submarine 
cables  
Blockchain 
(EBSI)  
Security  
Operation 
Centres  

  ● 

  ● 

  ● 

  ● 

  ● 

  ● 

  ● 

  3 

  ● 

  ● 

  ● 

  ● 

  ●  ● 

  ● 

  ● 

  ● 

  ● 

  ● 

  ● 

76 

  3 

  3 

  2 

  2 

  2 

 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
 
 
  
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
E
B

G
B

Z
C

K
D

E
D

E
E

E
I

L
E

S
E

R
F

R
H

T
I

Y
C

V
L

T
L

U
L

U
H

T
M

L
N

T
A

L
P

T
P

O
R

I
S

K
S

I
F

E
S

l
a
t
o
T

Other  

  ● 

  ● 

  ●  ● 

  ● 

  ● 

  ● 

  ●  ● 

  9 

Source: Recovery and Resilience Plans of all 27 Member States 

Examples of relevant measures with fulfilled milestones and targets in cross-border and 
multi-country projects 

Reforms: 

➢  Czechia  launched  the  Central  European  Digital  Media  Observatory  hub.  The 
Observatory is  part of the European Digital  Media Observatory and shall  contribute to 
combatting against disinformation online at national, transnational, and European level. 

including  quantum 

➢  France  published  national  strategies  aimed  at  increasing  investment  in  key  digital 
technologies 
future 
telecommunication and cloud solutions, and includes contributions to Important Projects 
of  Common  European  Interest  (IPCEIs),  which  aims  to  build  European  capacities  in 
important advanced technologies. 

technologies,  cybersecurity,  5G  and 

➢  Italy adopted a national legal act allocating the necessary funding to provide support to 
participants to  IPCEIs,  specifying the procedures and  deadlines for submitting projects 
and the access requirements of potential beneficiaries. 

Investments 

➢  Austria selected projects to support the development of innovative microelectronics and 
the  IPCEI  on  microelectronics  and 

technologies,  contributing 

to 

connectivity 
communication technologies. 

➢  Portugal selected Digital Innovation Hubs consortia as incubators/accelerators to foster 
the  entrepreneurship  ecosystem  on  the  digital  transition.  The  hubs  will  be  part  of  the 
network of the European Digital Innovation Hubs. 

3.9. Contribution to the implementation of country-specific recommendations 

for 

recorded 

implementation  of 

Progress  has  been 
country-specific 
the 
recommendations  (CSRs),  with  at  least  some  progress  having  been  made  for  68%  of 
2019-2020 CSRs (Figure 30). The CSR assessment published as part of the 2023 European 
Semester Spring package demonstrates steady increase in implementation of both 2019 CSRs 
of a structural nature and more crisis-oriented 2020 CSRs. This shows clearly the incentives 
provided  by  the  RRF  since  2021,  whose  performance-based  approach  and  emphasis  on 
reforms  is  expected  to  continue  reinforcing  CSR  implementation  in  the  years  to  come. 
Member  States  have  made  most  progress  since  2019  on  access  to  finance  and  financial 
services,  followed  by  labour  market  functioning,  anti-money  laundering  and  business 

77 

 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
environment.  At  the  same  time,  progress  has  been  less  visible  in  the  areas  of  the  single 
market, competition and state aid, housing, long-term care and pension systems. 

Figure 30: Current level of implementation of 
2019-2020 CSRs 

Full Implementation
2%

Substantial 
Progress
12%

No Progress
2%

Limited 
Progress
30%

Some 
Progress
54%

Figure 31: Implementation of 2019-2022 
CSRs: annual assessment in each consecutive 
year versus implementation to date 

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%

s
s
e
r
g
o
r
p
e
m
o
s

t
s
a
e
l

t
a
h
t
i

w
s
R
S
C

f
o
%

2019

2020

2021

2022

Annual assessment
Multiannual assessment
Average of annual assessment
Average of multiannual assessment

Source: 2023 European Semester – Spring Package 

Source: 2023 European Semester – Spring Package 

Progress in the implementation of the recommendations adopted in 2022 has also been 
substantial,  with  at  least  some  progress  in  almost  52%  of  the  recommendations 
addressed  to  Member  States  in  July  2022  (Figure  31).  Most  progress  overall  has  been 
achieved  on  budgetary  framework  and  fiscal  governance,  followed  by  transport,  business 
environment  and  energy  efficiency.  By  contrast,  less  progress  has  been  made  in  addressing 
recommendations on taxation policy. 

78 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4.  REPowerEU 

Since  the  establishment  of  the  RRF  Regulation  in  February  2021,  unprecedented  geo-
political  events  have  disrupted  European  and  global  economies  and  energy  markets. 
Member States have been facing several new challenges from high energy prices, overstained 
administrative  capacity,  disruption  of  supply  chains,  or  the  socioeconomic  consequences  of 
Russia’s  aggression  against  Ukraine.  In  response  to  these  recent  events,  the  Commission 
established  the  REPowerEU  plan,  with  the  objective  of  making  the  EU  independent  from 
Russian  fossil  fuel  before  2030.  REPowerEU  focuses  on  diversifying  gas  imports  and 
undertake  the  related  adjustments  to  the  energy  infrastructure,  whilst  also  accelerating  the 
penetration of renewable electricity and enable energy savings across the economy.  

The REPowerEU Plan, proposed in May 2022 as the EU’s response to the global energy 
crisis,  recognised  the  role  of  the  RRF,  along  with  other  EU  instruments  including 
cohesion  policy  funds63,  for  achieving  secure,  affordable  and  green  energy.  Under 
REPowerEU, the RRF will support Member States in putting forward additional reforms and 
investments  to  meet  the  REPowerEU  objectives,  including  the  rapid  phase-out  the  EU’s 
dependence on Russian fossil fuels, accelerating the clean energy transition, reducing energy 
consumption,  supporting  the  reskilling  of  the  workforce,  addressing  energy  poverty  and 
supporting  value  chains  in  critical  raw  materials  and  technologies  linked  to  the  green 
transition.  These  new  or  scaled-up  measures,  to  be  included  in  dedicated  REPowerEU 
chapters, will come on top of the already ambitious green agenda of the existing RRPs.  They 
can rely on the technical assistance from the Commission provided via the Technical Support 
Instrument (TSI). 17 Member States have received or are currently receiving support relevant 
to  REPowerEU64.  Some  of  these  measures  will  also  have  digital  dimension  (such  the 
digitalisation of energy). 

As  discussed  in  section  2.3.,  the  Commission  has  received  25  modified  RRPs  and  20 
REPowerEU  chapters.  The  following  section  discusses  in  more  details  the  content  of  the 
REPowerEU  chapters  that  have  been  adopted  by  the  Council  of  the  EU  at  the  time  of 
preparation of this report. 

4.1. Measures included in the REPowerEU chapters 

The adopted REPowerEU chapters directly address the objectives of the amended RRF 
Regulation. The adopted chapters include measures directly address the objectives of the Net 
Zero Industry Act and Critical Raw Materials Act under the umbrella of the Green Industrial 
Plan.  These  include  measures  to  improve  permitting  processes  for  renewable  energy,  to 
improve  green  skilling  of  the  workforce,  and  to  support  the  value  chains  in  critical  raw 
materials  and  technologies  linked  to  the  green  transition.  An  overview  of  the  REPowerEU 

63 Cohesion policy programmes contribute to support the transition towards a more secure and sustainable energy system. In 
addition,  the  SAFE  initiative  (Supporting  Affordable  Energy)  enables  Member  States  to  use  unspent  2014-2020  cohesion 
funds to support households and SMEs facing increased energy costs. 
64 https://reform-support.ec.europa.eu/what-we-do/green-transition/supporting-repowereu-affordable-secure-and-sustainable-
energy-europe_en  

79 

 
 
 
chapters positively assessed by the Commission and approved by the Council is provided  in 
Table 10. 

Table 10: Overview of the content of the adopted REPowerEU chapters 

Estonia 

France 

Malta 

Slovakia 

Climate 
contribution 

100%  

91.6% 

100% 

85.26% 

Total 
estimated cost 
(in EUR 
million) 

Total: 90  
ETS: 83.3 
BAR: 6.6  

Total: 2,825  
ETS: 2,321  
BAR: 504 

Total: 70  
ETS: 30  
BAR: 40  

Total: 402.7 
ETS: 366.4 
BAR: 36.3 

Number of 
new and 
scaled-up 
investments 
and reforms 
2 new 
investments 
1 scaled-up 
reform 

3 new 
investments  
3 new reforms 
1 scaled-up 
investment 

1 new reform 
1 new 
investment 

6 new reforms 
6 new 
investments  
2 scaled-up 
investments 

REPowerEU objectives met by the Member 
States’ chapter 

(b) Acceleration of deployment of renewable 
energy sources (‘RES’), critical energy 
infrastructure, organisation industry, uptake of 
sustainable biomethane  
(e) Accelerating integration of RES 
(b) Boosting energy efficiency in buildings 
Accelerating the deployment of RES and 
decarbonising industry 
(d) Incentivising reduction of energy demand 
(e) Accelerating integration of RES, supporting 
electricity storage, supporting zero emission 
transport.  
 (b) Accelerating the deployment of renewable 
energy, boosting energy efficiency in buildings 
(e) Accelerating integration of renewable energy 
and supporting zero-emission transport and its 
infrastructure 
(b) Accelerating the deployment of renewable 
energy, boosting energy efficiency in buildings 
(c) Addressing energy poverty 
(e) Accelerating integration of renewable energy 
and supporting zero-emission transport and its 
infrastructure 
(f) Accelerated requalification of the workforce 
towards green and related digital skills 

Source: European Commission. 

REPowerEU chapter: Estonia  

The  Estonian  REPowerEU  chapter  consists  of  one  scaled-up  reform  and  two  new 
investments  in  the  area  of  renewable  energy  sources  and  the  production  as  well  as 
uptake  of  sustainable  biomethane,  amounting  to  an  estimated  cost  of  EUR  90  million. 
Both  investments  and  the  reform  have  a  cross-border  dimension  and  100  percent  of  the 
estimated costs are climate tagged. The following list summarizes the reform and investments 
of the chapter: 

•  Reform on the deployment of renewable energy sources.  In complementarity with 
an existing reform in the Estonian RRP, this measure contributes to increasing the roll 
out  of  wind  projects  by  reducing  legislative  hurdles  for  wind  energy  developers. 
Furthermore, the reform strengthens the capacity of local authorities in administrative 
procedures necessary for wind energy development. 

•  Investment  to  increase  the  access  of  renewable  energy  production  to  the 
electricity  distribution  network.  This  investment  will  improve  the  capacity  of 
distribution networks by an additional 160 MW and  thereby enable further access of 
renewable producers to the network. 

80 

 
 
 
•  Investment  on  increasing  production  and  uptake  of  sustainable  biogas  and 
biomethane. The purpose of this measure is to boost the uptake of sustainable biogas 
and sustainable biomethane in line with the Renewable Energy Directive (‘RED II’)65 
and to accelerate the integration of renewable energy sources. The investment consists 
of  sub-investments  on  creating  necessary  regulatory,  organisational  and  financial 
conditions  to  increase  the  use  of  sustainable  biogas  and  sustainable  biomethane  and 
second sub-investment on building production facilities.  

REPowerEU chapter: France 

The French REPowerEU chapter consists of three new reforms, three new investments, 
and one scaled-up investment amounting to an estimated cost of EUR 2.82 billion.  91.2 
percent of the estimated costs of the chapter is allocated to cross-border investments and 91.6 
percent of the estimated costs are climate tagged. The following list summarizes the reforms 
and investments in the chapter: 

•  As  part  of  the  French  REPowerEU  chapter,  a  reform  will  be  implemented 
concerning  the  acceleration  of  renewable  energy  production,  in  order  to  simplify 
permitting  procedures  and  speed  up  the  planification  of  renewable  energy  projects. 
This  is  done  by  addressing  bottlenecks  that  currently  hinder  the  deployment  of 
renewable energy.  

•  Reform  on  ‘energy  sobriety’:  which  aims  to  achieve  a  10%  reduction  in  energy 
consumption across all sectors by the year 2024, as compared to the winter period of 
2018-2019. The reform consists of proposals for actions to promote energy reductions 
across multiple sectors, including housing, transportation, and industry.  

•  Reform  on  the  establishment  of  a  General  Secretariat  for  Ecological  Planning: 
The primary objective of the General Secretariat will be to facilitate the coordination 
of national strategies pertaining to ecological transition. This will involve mobilising 
various  Ministries  and  stakeholders,  as  well  as  evaluating  the  effectiveness  of 
implemented actions in those fields. 

•  Investment  in  the  decarbonisation  of  industry.  The  measure  aims  to  support 
investments  in  decarbonising  industrial  heat,  energy  efficiency  and  process  change 
investments  in  industry  to  reduce  fossil  energy  consumption  and  therefore  mitigate 
greenhouse gas emissions. 

•  Investment in the  production and uptake of renewable and fossil-free hydrogen 
through  the  financing  of  four  IPCEI  projects  on  hydrogen.  The  objective  of  this 
measure  is  to  enhance  the  industrial  sector  by  considering  ecological,  technological, 
and  economic  aspects,  while  simultaneously  minimising  emissions  and  improving 
energy storage capabilities for industries.  

•  Investment in energy renovations of public buildings and a scaled-up measure on 
energy renovation of private housing. The primary objective is to provide financial 

65 Directive (EU) 2018/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 on the promotion of the 
use of energy from renewable sources 

81 

 
 
 
assistance  for  the  energy  renovations  of  public  and  private  buildings,  resulting  in  a 
reduction in energy consumption within the building sector in the short run, as well as 
a decrease in the reliance on fossil fuels. 

REPowerEU chapter: Malta 

The Maltese REPowerEU chapter consists of one reform and one investment amounting 
to an estimated cost of EUR 70 million. 100 percent of the estimated costs of the chapter is 
allocated  to  cross-border  investments  and  100  percent  of  the  estimated  costs  are  climate 
tagged.  

•  Reform  of  existing  permitting  systems.  It  aims  at  accelerating  permit-granting 
procedures for renewable energy projects and introduce an obligation to install rooftop 
solar panels on new buildings. The new reform complements component one and two 
of  Malta’s  RRP  which  focus  on  improving  the  energy  efficiency  in  buildings  and 
transport and partially on increased production of renewable energy. 

•  Investment  into  the  electricity  grid.  The  primary  objective  is  to  strengthen  and 
widen the electricity distribution network through investments in the grid, distribution 
services, and battery storage.  

REPowerEU chapter: Slovakia  

The Slovak REPowerEU chapter consists of six new reforms,  six new investments, and 
two  scaled-up  investments  amounting  to  an  estimated  cost  of  EUR  402.7  million.  91.2 
percent of the estimated costs of the chapter is allocated to cross-border investments and 64.1 
percent of the estimated costs are climate tagged. The following list summarizes the reforms 
and  investments  under  the  4  thematic  areas  of  the  chapter  which  are  accompanied  by  an 
investment providing targeted communication and coordination for the implementation: 

•  Renewables,  grids  and  permitting  processes:  Sub-measures  in  this  area  focus  on 
optimising  procedures  for  issuing  environmental  permitting,  improving  the  use  of 
geothermal  energy,  and  supporting  the  deployment  of  heat  pumps.  Furthermore,  the 
assessment  of  the  trajectories  for  sustainable  use  and  supply  of  biomass  and 
developing and promoting the production of bio-methane are supported. “Go-to” areas 
for  wind  energy  will  be  established,  together  with  an  action  plan  for  the  national 
hydrogen  strategy  and  measures  fostering  the  integration  of  renewables  in  the 
electricity grid. Investments are directed towards the modernization and digitalisation 
of the electricity distribution systems, including the rollout of an Energy Data Centre.  

•  Energy efficiency in buildings: Includes the creation of a single digital data platform 
to  collect  information  on  the  energy  performance  of  all  public  and  private  buildings 
and  a  reform  to  improve  energy  management  of  state  government  buildings.  The 
investments will result in energy savings of public buildings and households at risk of 
energy poverty and will include assistance to  vulnerable groups in  defining the right 
set of measures and processing a grant application. 

82 

 
 
•  Sustainable  transport:  This  area  scales  up  existing  measures  of  the  Slovak  RRP to 
further  develop  zero  emission  transport  infrastructure  and  promote  environmentally 
friendly passenger transport. 

•  Green Skills:  The underlying reform  and investment  support the development of an 
updated  curriculum  for  vocational  education  schools  and  a  new  training  programme 
for  teaching  staff.  The  measures  further  support  an  accredited  education  programme 
for  adult  education  with  a  focus  on  green  skills  and  the  provision  of  physical  and 
technical equipment. 

4.2. Financing of REPowerEU 

While  initial  RRPs  were  funded  solely  from  borrowing  under  NGEU,  REPowerEU 
chapters can be funded from a variety of sources. With the entry into force of the amended 
RRF Regulation (EU) 2021/241, any modified RRP with a REPowerEU chapter can request 
additional  financial  support  in  the  form  of  resources  from  the  Emissions  Trading  System 
(‘ETS’), transfers from  the Brexit Adjustment Reserve (‘BAR’) and structural  funds, and/or 
loans.  Furthermore,  following  the  recalculation  of  Member  States’  allocations  pursuant  to 
Article 18, some Member States saw their non-repayable financial support increase and these 
can  also  contribute  to  the  funding  of  their  REPowerEU  chapters.  The  additional  financial 
support related to the REPowerEU chapter will be disbursed together with the rest of the RRF 
financial  contribution  and,  where  applicable,  the  loan  support  according  to  a  common 
instalment schedule. 

Overall, the REPowerEU chapters will be financed by EUR 20 billion from auctioning ETS 
allowances and EUR 2.1 billion from transfers from the BAR. On top of that, as mentioned in 
section  2.3., additional  RRF  non-repayable  support  under Article 18 of the RRF Regulation 
and  additional  RRF  loans  under  Article  14  may  also  fund  measures  in  the  REPowerEU 
chapters. 

Revenues from auctioning ETS allowances 

In line with Article 21a of the amended RRF Regulation, EUR 20 billion are being made 
available as additional non-repayable financial support under the RRF. This  externally 
assigned  revenue  contributes  to  increasing  the  resilience  of  the  Union’s  energy  system 
through  reducing  the  dependence  on  fossil  fuels  and  helping  to  diversify  energy  supplies  at 
Union level. It can exclusively be used to fund measures included in the REPowerEU chapters 
and with the clear exception of reforms and investments that are aimed at improving energy 
infrastructure and facilities to meet immediate security of supply needs for gas and oil.  

The  additional  EUR  20  billion  will  be  raised  by  auctioning  allowances  under  the 
Emissions Trading System (ETS), according to the following distribution:  

•  60% (i.e. EUR 12 billion) will come from auctioning allowances under the Innovation 

Fund; and 

83 

 
 
•  40% (i.e. EUR 8 billion) will come from the frontloaded sale of Member States’ ETS 

allowances. 

The auctioning of the ETS allowances started on Monday 3 July 2023. By  1 September 
2023, EUR 931 million had been raised, by auctioning 5.88 million allowances from the 
Innovation  Fund  and  4.98  allowances  from  the  Member  States’  ETS  allowances.  The 
repeated  success  of  these  issuances  show  that  financial  markets  support  the  REPowerEU 
objectives  and  are  willing  to  invest  in  REPowerEU  projects.  The  pace  and  revenue  of  the 
auctioning is well on track to allow a smooth implementation and funding of the REPowerEU 
chapters. 

The additional non-repayable financial support is distributed among Member States on 
the  basis  of  an  updated  allocation  key  (Table  11).  The  key  takes  into  account  Member 
States’ dependency on fossil fuel and the price increase of investment goods. This allows to 
better  capture  the  consequences  of  Russia’s  military  aggression  against  Ukraine  and  hereby 
allows the allocation of more funds to the most affected Member States. 

Table 11: Additional non-repayable support available per Member State 

Amount of final net available non-repayable 
support (in EUR, current prices) 

Belgium 
Bulgaria 
Czechia 
Denmark 
Germany 
Estonia 
Ireland 
Greece 
Spain 
France 
Croatia 
Italy 
Cyprus 
Latvia 
Lithuania 
Luxembourg 
Hungary 
Malta 
Netherlands 
Austria 
Poland 
Portugal 
Romania 
Slovenia 
Slovakia 
Finland 
Sweden 
EU27 
Source: European Commission 

281,716,188 
479,327,545 
680,543,170 
130,714,933 
2,086,423,922 
83,297,553 
89,428,389 
768,069,923 
2,582,276,223 
2,317,477,900 
269,037,883 
2,755,867,236 
52,408,822 
123,797,035 
193,729,642 
29,955,009 
700,513,718 
29,955,027 
454,359,575 
210,304,520 
2,755,862,361 
703,364,724 
1,397,228,597 
116,734,327 
366,409,448 
112,766,671 
198,429,659 
19,970,000,000 

84 

 
 
 
 
Transferred  resources  from  cohesion  policy  funds  and  the  Brexit  Adjustment  Reserve 
(‘BAR’) 

As  part  of  the  existing  possibilities  under  the  RRF  Regulation  and  the  Common 
Provision  Regulation,  Member  States  can  transfer  up  to  5%  of  their  initial  allocation 
under  cohesion  policy  funds  to  the  RRF.  As  of  1  September,  the  Commission  has  not 
received  any  such  transfer  request.  In  addition,  Member  States,  under  the  REPowerEU 
Regulation,  may  use  up  to  7.5  %  of  their  initial  national  allocation  under  the  European 
Regional  Development  Fund,  the  European  Social  Fund  Plus  and  the  Cohesion  Fund  to 
support the REPowerEU objectives, in line with Fund-specific rules.  

In addition to that possibility, Member States can voluntarily transfer all or part of their 
provisional allocation under the BAR to the RRF to finance the investments and reforms 
included in  the  REPowerEU  chapter.  By  1  March  2023,  all  Member  States  have  notified 
the  Commission  of  their  intention  to  transfer  BAR  funds  to  the  RRF.  These  funds  are 
transferred  to  the  RRF  and  committed  once  the  CID  approving  the  revised  RRP  with  a 
REPowerEU  chapter  is  adopted.  Table  12  provides  the  total  amounts  transferred  from  the 
BAR to the RRF for each Member State.  

Table 12: Transfer of allocation under BAR 

Belgium 
Bulgaria 
Czechia 
Denmark 
Germany 
Estonia 
Ireland 
Greece 
Spain 
France 
Croatia 
Italy 
Cyprus 
Latvia 
Lithuania 
Luxembourg 
Hungary 
Malta 
Netherlands 
Austria 
Poland 
Portugal 
Romania 
Slovenia 
Slovakia 
Finland 
Sweden 
EU27 

Total amount transferred (in EUR, current prices) 
228,850,088 
6,000,000 
54,918,029 
66,026,588 
219,739,187 
6,615,616 
150,000,000 
25,600,000 
58,000,000 
504,000,000 
7,190,532 
0 
52,056,350 
10,946,343 
4,700,000 
128,475,124 
0 
40,000,000 
280,000,000 
0 
0 
81,358,359 
43,162,623 
5,257,380 
36,307,747 
14,242,037 
66,000,000 
2,089,446,003 

Source: European Commission 

85 

 
 
 
5.  Conclusion 

The  RRF  was  established  during  the  COVID-19  crisis  but  has  evolved  in  a  changing 
geopolitical  context  that  has  impacted  the  Union’s  society  and  economy.  Global 
instability,  supply  chain  disruptions,  the  energy  crisis  and  inflation  are  putting  a  strain  on 
national  authorities,  making  the  implementation  of  RRPs  more  challenging  in  a  constrained 
calendar. Yet, at the same time, they also make the successful and timely implementation of 
those plans even more crucial within the Facility’s limited lifetime.  

The revision of the plans and the addition of REPowerEU chapters is an opportunity to 
take  into  account  the  experience  gained  during  the  first  years  and  speed  up  RRF 
implementation. The REPowerEU plan launched in May 2022 recognised that the RRF can 
play  an  important  role  in  achieving  secure,  affordable  and  clean  energy.  By  providing 
additional EU funding and enabling the revisions of RRPs and the inclusion of REPowerEU 
chapters, the RRF helps  Member States  make the critical  reforms  and investment  needed to 
rapidly  strengthen  their  energy  resilience.  At  the  same  time,  they  are  an  opportunity  for 
Member States to remove bottlenecks and obstacles to implementation. 

Two  and  a  half  years  after  the  establishment  of  the  RRF,  Member  States  continue  to 
deliver on their reform and investment commitments as the implementation of the RRF 
the  swift 
progresses.  The  Commission  encourages  Member  States 
implementation of their RRPs and submission of payment requests. 

to  continue 

As  the  Facility  enters  into  the  second  half  of  its  lifetime,  the  Commission  working  in 
concert  with  the  Member  States  and  all  key  partners,  will  maintain  its  focus  on  the 
implementation of the RRPs. The Commission will encourage and help Member States’ best 
efforts to fully use the opportunities provided by the RRF to swiftly deliver the investments 
and  reforms  addressing  the  key  challenges  of  our  time  to  further  the  resilience  of  the 
European Union and ensure a future-proof recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic.  

86