Valenza, Alessandro
[Author];
Iacob, Anda
[Author];
Amichetti, Clarissa
[Author];
Celotti, Pietro
[Author];
Zillmer, Sabine
[Author];
Kotrasinski, Jacek
[Author]
;
Europäischer Ausschuss der Regionen Commission for Economic Policy
Regional and local authorities and the National Recovery and Resilience Plans
Description:
The economic and social impact of the coronavirus pandemic is enormous, at the same time the EU continues to face other long-term crises such as climate change. To make European economies more sustainable and resilient, the European Commission (EC) and EU Member States agreed to set up the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) with a budget of EUR 672.5 billion. The RRF will support investments and structural reforms while contributing to the green and digital transitions. To access RRF funding, Member States draft National Recovery and Resilience Plans (NRRPs) complying with the objectives of the RRF. This study provides a timely assessment of eight NRRPs submitted to the EU by the end of May 2021 (Belgium, Croatia, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania and Spain). The NRRPs encompass reforms and public investment projects that each Member State plans to implement with the support of RRF. This study focuses on the involvement of Local and Regional Authorities (LRAs) in the preparation and implementation of NRRPs. In addition, the study assesses the integration of green and digital transition as well as United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in this modified version of the European Semester.