MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the views of Parliament on the ongoing assessment by the Commission and the Council of the national recovery and resilience plans

B9‑0337/2021

European Parliament resolution on the views of Parliament on the ongoing assessment by the Commission and the Council of the national recovery and resilience plans

(2021/2738(RSP))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to Regulation (EU) 2021/241 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 February 2021 establishing the Recovery and Resilience Facility[1] (the RRF Regulation),

– having regard to its resolution of 20 May 2021 on the right of information of the Parliament regarding the ongoing assessment of the national recovery and resilience plans[2],

– having regard to Articles 174 and 175 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU),

– having regard to Rule 132(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas the RRF Regulation was adopted under the ordinary legislative procedure;

B. whereas the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) is an unprecedented instrument in terms of volume and means of financing; whereas the Commission is preparing to issue debt, since all EU Member States have now successfully ratified the Own Resources Decision[3];

C. whereas democratic control, accountability and parliamentary scrutiny over the implementation of the RRF is only possible with the full involvement of Parliament and the consideration of all its recommendations in all stages; whereas Parliament expresses its views on the issues discussed as part of the recovery and resilience dialogue, including through resolutions and exchanges with the Commission; whereas the Commission has to take these views into account;

D. whereas the RRF Regulation establishes that the general objective is to promote the Union’s economic, social and territorial cohesion, thereby improving the resilience, crisis preparedness, adjustment capacity and growth potential of the Member States, by mitigating the social and economic impact of the crisis, in particular on women, children and youth, and by contributing to the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights, by supporting the green transition and reducing emissions by at least 57 %, including removals as per the provisions of the European Climate Law and complying with the objective of EU climate neutrality by 2050, and of the digital transition, thereby contributing to upward economic and social convergence, the restoration and promotion of sustainable growth and the integration of the economies of the Union, fostering high-quality employment creation and contributing to the strategic autonomy of the Union alongside an open economy and generating European added value;

E. whereas the specific objective of the RRF is to provide Member States with financial support with a view to achieving the milestones and targets of reforms and investments as set out in their recovery and resilience plans;

F. whereas as a rule, the Member States should have submitted their national recovery and resilience plans to the Commission by 30 April 2021; whereas to date, 23 Member States have submitted their recovery and resilience plans to the Commission;

G. whereas Parliament has repeatedly invited the Commission to provide information, including in writing, on the state of play of the assessment of the national recovery and resilience plans for the purpose of the recovery and resilience dialogue;

1. Considers that the RRF constitutes a historic EU instrument to foster economic, social and territorial cohesion, encourage convergence, help the Member States to mitigate the economic and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and set their economies on strong and sustainable growth trajectories, and prepare the EU to address long-term challenges such as the just, green transition and digital transformation and generate EU added value;

2. Requests that the Commission meticulously applies the letter and the spirit of the RRF Regulation in the assessment process of the national recovery and resilience plans and provides deep and comprehensive assessments, before the adoption of the relevant proposals for Council implementing decisions; welcomes the Commission’s efforts to ensure their swift adoption before the summer, but expects that no political concessions are made when assessing the plans; stresses that ambitious plans and sound execution are essential in order not to waste this historic opportunity; expects the Commission and the Member States to be able to fully capitalise on the RRF and deliver high-quality plans that significantly contribute to our shared European objectives;

3. Is convinced that the funds must be fairly distributed across societies and future generations to ensure the highest possible impact on economic and social upward and territorial convergence, well-being and economic stability; calls for full transparency and accountability in the allocation and use of the funds;

4. Reiterates Parliament’s call to ensure the right of information of Parliament regarding the ongoing assessment of the national recovery and resilience plans, in order to enable the impeccable democratic scrutiny of Parliament in the Commission’s assessment and implementation of the RRF;

5. Calls on the Commission to carefully assess whether and to what extent each national recovery and resilience plan effectively contributes to all six pillars referred to in Article 3 of the RRF Regulation in a comprehensive and balanced manner; recalls that each measure should contribute to one or more of the policy areas of European relevance structured in the six pillars;

6. Welcomes the fact that, according to information provided by the Commission, all plans formally submitted meet the climate and digital investment targets; calls on the Commission to also assess the qualitative side of the proposed measures to ensure that they meet both quantitative and qualitative targets effectively and throughout the implementation phase;

7. Recalls that in accordance with the regulation, the RRF must not finance recurring national expenditure, apart from in duly justified cases;

8. Notes that cross-border projects involving more than one Member State generate high European added value and associated spillover effects and regrets the fact that few national plans contain cross-border projects; calls on the Commission to strongly encourage Member States to put forward cross-border projects to be financed through the RRF;

9. Notes that few Member States chose to request loans in the national recovery and resilience plans submitted; calls on the Member States to consider the best use of the loans available to avoid any loss of opportunity;

10. Calls on the Commission to take into account the possible future need to amend national plans to ensure compliance with the requirements of the RRF Regulation for the preparation of the draft Council implementing act;

Green transition

11. Welcomes the fact that green investments under the RRF will be partly financed through the issuance of green bonds;

12. Stresses that in line with the methodology set out in Annex VI to the RRF Regulation, all plans should dedicate at least 37 % of the total allocation (grants and loans) to climate; calls on the Commission to pay attention when assessing the 37 % climate spending target in order not to double- or miss-tag measures and to prevent greenwashing; is concerned that some investments are labelled as green investments despite not being covered by the tracking methodology set out in Annex VI; suggests applying additional scrutiny on any extension of the green tagging methodology in Annex VI; calls on the Commission to encourage the Member States to undertake the reforms that will facilitate the successful implementation of the flagship areas identified in its guidance;

13. Recalls that the ‘do no significant harm’ provisions are a crucial tool for supporting the green transition, alongside the requirement that a minimum of 37 % of expenditure (grants and loans) on investments and reforms contained in each national recovery and resilience plan should support climate objectives, and for avoiding the financing of measures that contradict the Union’s climate objectives; recalls that all measures must respect the ‘do no significant harm’ principle within the meaning of Article 17 of the Taxonomy Regulation[4]; is concerned about the plans’ lack of compliance with this principle and calls on the Commission to ensure its full respect, including during the implementation phase, and to publish all related assessments; insists that the implementation of the RRF cannot lead to any lowering of environmental standards or run counter to environmental laws and regulations;

14. Recalls that, reflecting the importance of tackling the dramatic loss of biodiversity, the RRF should contribute to the mainstreaming of biodiversity action in Union policies; calls on the Commission to publish an overview of the biodiversity-related measures listed in the recovery and resilience plans; is concerned that most of the recovery and resilience plans contain very limited or no measures at all in favour of biodiversity; expects the Commission to strictly apply the ‘do no significant harm’ principle in that respect and, in particular, to impose a correction of proposed reforms or investments that could harm biodiversity or are not accompanied by the adequate flanking measures;

15. Highlights that investments must have a ‘lasting impact’ for the EU to meet its carbon neutrality objectives; is in favour of green investments that lead to Europe’s economic transformation and that help to close the climate and environmentally friendly investment gap by not excessively subsidising the purchase of durable consumption goods; is concerned by the fact that many national recovery and resilience plans focus on short-term investment, and calls for more next generation investments and reforms that may also have an immediate impact;

Digital transformation

16. Stresses that in accordance with the RRF Regulation, all plans should have measures that effectively contribute to the digital transition or address the challenges resulting therefrom, and that account for an amount which represents at least 20 % of the recovery and resilience plan’s total allocation, based on the methodology for digital tagging set out in Annex VII; recalls that the methodology is to be used accordingly for measures that cannot be directly assigned to an intervention field listed in Annex VII; recalls that the coefficients for support for the digital objectives may be increased for individual investments to take into account accompanying reform measures that increase their impact on the digital objectives;

17. Recalls that for investments in digital capacities and connectivity, Member States should provide in their plans a security self-assessment based on common objective criteria identifying any security issues, and detailing how those issues will be addressed in order to comply with the relevant Union and national law; calls on the Commission to ensure that all national plans containing such investments provide such an assessment and that the respective measures do not run counter to the strategic interests of the Union;

18. Is concerned that there are national plans that do not achieve an adequate balance in terms of investments in the digital transformation, notably in digital infrastructure;

Boosting economic growth and social and territorial cohesion

19. Calls on the Commission to ensure that national recovery and resilience plans pay adequate attention to measures for children and youth, especially in countries in which structural problems have been identified in areas such as early-school leaving, youth unemployment, child poverty and early childhood education; insists that reforms and investments in youth, in particular those related to upskilling, reskilling, education, vocational training, dual education and lifelong learning, should be aligned with the Youth Guarantee and focus on developing competences in addition to purchasing equipment; stresses that reforms and investments for children should be aligned with the principles of the Child Guarantee and focus on the right of access to and opportunities for free healthcare, free education, free childcare, decent housing and adequate nutrition for every child in poverty;

20. Welcomes the measures included in the recovery and resilience plans in line with the European Pillar of Social Rights and EU initiatives in employment, education, health and social areas to strengthen social cohesion, strengthen social protection systems and reduce vulnerabilities; reminds the Commission that the recovery and resilience plans have to comply satisfactorily with the assessment criteria; believes that green and digital investments have great potential for quality job creation, reducing inequalities and narrowing the digital gap; calls on the Commission to ensure that the most vulnerable communities and regions, as well as those most affected by climate change, benefit from investments; calls on the Commission to discourage the practice of repackaging projects without a real added value for lagging regions, especially when this risks widening the EU’s social, economic and territorial convergence gap;

21. Urges the Commission to insist that Member States implement reform and investment measures which increase the administrative and institutional resilience and crisis preparedness;

22. Requests that the Commission and the Council ensure that gender equality and equal opportunities for all, and the mainstreaming of those objectives, are taken into account and promoted throughout the preparation and implementation of recovery and resilience plans; expects the Commission to systematically collect, analyse and report on existing sex-disaggregated data for the implementation of the RRF in line with European Court of Auditors Special Report 10/2021;

23. Recalls that the recovery and resilience plans should comprise measures for the implementation of reforms and public investment projects through a coherent package; considers that many national plans rely heavily on investments, but should make greater efforts in the area of structural reforms; reminds the Commission that national recovery and resilience plans must address critical bottlenecks in Member States’ economies, and that, to this end, all plans are expected to contribute to effectively addressing all or a significant subset of the challenges identified in the relevant country-specific recommendations, including fiscal aspects thereof; believes that regardless of the Member State’s size and electoral calendar, the Commission should devote particular attention to ensuring that the proposed reforms are genuine and do not roll back earlier and more ambitious reforms;

24. Stresses that creating quality employment is one of the objectives included in the RRF Regulation and that this should be done through a comprehensive package of reforms and investments;

25. Regrets the fact that the national recovery and resilience plans are not being coordinated sufficiently with partnership agreements and EU programmes such as InvestEU; calls for the creation of synergies and complementarities between the RRF, the partnership agreements and other EU actions, including by facilitating the use of InvestEU’s national compartments;

26. Reminds the Commission that the significant involvement of SMEs and start-ups is an explicit objective of the RRF Regulation, including in public procurement processes; is concerned that RRF funds will predominantly benefit large corporations and risk inhibiting fair competition; calls on the Commission to pay the utmost attention to ensure that SMEs and start-ups benefit from RRF financing, including through the formulation of milestones and the ongoing guidance on programme implementation in the Member States; suggests establishing a specific share of RRF funding whose ultimate recipients are SMEs, and including common indicators in the RRF’s monitoring arrangements;

Involvement of stakeholders

27. Recalls that according to Article 18(4)(q) of the RRF Regulation, the national recovery and resilience plans should set out ‘a summary of the consultation process, conducted in accordance with the national legal framework, of local and regional authorities, social partners, civil society organisations, youth organisations and other relevant stakeholders, and how the input of the stakeholders is reflected in the recovery and resilience plan’; calls on the Commission to prompt the Member States to consult all national stakeholders and to ensure their involvement, including that of civil society and local and regional authorities, in the implementation and, in particular, the monitoring of the plans to ensure that consultations take place for future amendments or new plans, if any;

28. Recalls that Article 152 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union establishes that the Union recognises and promotes the role of the social partners at its level and must respect their autonomy; underlines that adequate involvement of national stakeholders such as the national parliaments, local and regional authorities, social partners, NGOs and civil society will be decisive for the success of the national plans and the RRF as a whole; voices the concerns raised by the Committee of the Regions and deplores the fact that many Member States have not or only inadequately involved regional and local authorities in the drafting process of the plans despite relying on them to channel a large portion of the RRF’s funds; further deplores the fact that in some instances not even national parliaments were adequately involved or informed;

The rule of law and limiting corruption in the implementation of the RRF

29. Underlines that the success of the RRF and of the national recovery and resilience plans requires robust transparency and accountability from the Commission, the Member States and all implementing partners;

30. Recalls that the RRF and each of the national recovery and resilience plans should fully respect the Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation[5]; considers that the Commission must reject any measure or project that goes against EU values enshrined in Article 2 of the TEU;

31. Recalls that the implementation of the RRF should be carried out in line with the principle of sound financial management; demands that the Commission thoroughly assesses the arrangements proposed by the Member States to prevent, detect and correct conflicts of interest, corruption and fraud, as well as to avoid double funding from the RRF and other Union programmes; calls on the Commission to propose a draft amending budget to increase the financing for the European Anti-Fraud Office and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office and to provide them with the necessary financial and human resources in a manner commensurate with the need to scrutinise this unprecedented amount of EU expenditure; urges the Commission to monitor the risks posed to the EU’s financial interests very carefully during the implementation of the RRF, paying particular attention to public procurement;

32. Calls on the Member States to collect and record data on the final recipients and beneficiaries as well as the objectives, amount and location of projects funded by the RRF in a standardised electronic and interoperable format, and to use the single data mining tool to be provided by the Commission; calls on the Commission, in this regard, to finalise the single data mining tool as soon as possible; recalls that Article 22(2) of the RRF Regulation provides obligations for the Member States to collect and ensure access to standardised categories of data; reminds the Commission to ensure those obligations for the purpose of audit and control and to provide for comparable information on the use of funds in relation to measures for the implementation of reforms and investment projects under the recovery and resilience plans; further reminds the Commission of the need to ensure the transparency of final beneficiaries and to ensure that appropriate arrangements are in place in order to avoid double funding;

Parliament’s assessment of the delegated acts

33. Believes that the successful implementation of the RRF will strengthen the case for a common European fiscal architecture and could serve as its blueprint; recalls that in accordance with the RRF Regulation, the Commission shall set out the common indicators to be used for reporting on progress and for the purpose of the monitoring and evaluation of the RRF;

34. Reminds the Commission of Parliament’s veto rights when it comes to defining a methodology for reporting social expenditure, including on children and youth; calls on the Commission to ensure full transparency with regard to the timeline for their approval; highlights the importance of agreeing on a social tracking methodology as well as on a scoreboard to report on the progress and implementation of the RRF; considers that the draft proposals submitted to Parliament do not live up to its expectations;

Conclusions

35. Calls on the Commission to assess the submitted plans adequately and in accordance with the RRF Regulation; expresses serious concerns about the compliance of several measures in national recovery and resilience plans with the requirements of the underlying RRF Regulation and asks the Commission to ensure all elements in all of the plans all in full compliance with the RRF Regulation;

36. Recalls its demand for the Commission to fulfil its obligations under the RRF Regulation to provide Parliament with all the relevant information on the state of play of the implementation of the RRF Regulation and to take into account any elements arising from the views expressed through the recovery and resilience dialogue, including the views shared by the relevant committees and in plenary resolutions; welcomes the Commission’s improved efforts to provide adequate information during regular meetings with Parliament;

37. Reminds the Council that, particularly at the stage of the adoption of the implementing decisions, ‘relevant outcomes of discussions held in Council preparatory bodies shall be shared with the competent committee of the European Parliament’;

38. Invites the Commission to continue to follow an open, transparent and constructive approach during the recovery and resilience dialogues;

39. Recalls Parliament’s position in 2020 for a stronger recovery plan and invites the Commission and the Council to assess whether additional funds would be necessary to tackle the crisis in order to ensure that the EU can compete with large economies;

°

° °

40. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the European Council and the Commission.