Debate: The right of information of the Parliament regarding the ongoing assessment of the national recovery and resilience plans
Date: TUESDAY, 18 MAY 2021
Speaker: Augusto Santos Silva
Language: EN

Time is pressing. The pandemic hit Europe back in the beginning of 2020, one year and a half ago. We have come a long way since an agreement on the biggest ever multiannual financial framework and on an unprecedented recovery instrument, Next Generation EU, was reached in July last year. These two instruments, amounting to more than EUR 1.8 trillion over the next seven years, are endowed with ambitious climate and digital targets and have a very strong social focus, addressing challenges to employment, sustainability, resilience and competitiveness through reforms and investments. The RRF (Recovery and Resilience Facility) is a key element of the Next Generation EU. It was built together by the Council, the Parliament and the Commission. It is based on a strong agreement reached in December last year. This is the beginning of a long journey which the Parliament, the Council and the Commission will make together with each and every Member State. The regulation reflects many elements that are important for both Parliament and the Council, such as the six pillars, European added value, the reference to the European pillar of social rights, which is particularly important for the Portuguese Presidency, and also the rights of information. The Commission will have to properly take these elements into account in its swift assessment of the plans, while the other two institutions will play a key role in ensuring transparency and accountability through regular exchanges with the Commission, all the way up to 2026. The Commission has already received and shared with the Parliament and the Council several recovery plans. It is now up to the Commission to assess them and keep us informed on the result of its analysis in a prompt but proportionate way. We understand the enormous challenge for the Commission to assess thoroughly and consistently 27 plans, sometimes featuring thousands of pages, and to do that as soon as possible within the timeline provided by the regulation. For this reason, the Council is as eager as the Parliament to understand how the Commission assessment of the plans proceeds. We should, however, all be aware of the risk of slowing down the process and pre-empting the quality and horizontal consistency of the assessments if our request for information arrives too early in the process. The Council expects the first official updates by the Commission on the assessment of the plans in the context of the preparation of the June Ecofin. The Council also stands ready to adopt the first RRPs (Recovery and Resilience Plans) in June. Indeed, once the Commission adopts its proposals for draft Council implementing decisions, which will be public, the Council will do its utmost to adopt them as soon as possible to make sure that part of the pre-financing can start reaching at least some Member States before the end of the summer. European citizens and firms are waiting for the RRF. We have to bring together quality and speed and deliver this instrument.