MEPs quizzed Commissioners Dombrovskis and Gentiloni on the progress made in executing the Reform and Recovery facility in what will become a regular bimonthly vetting exercise.
MEPs asked the Commissioners to clarify
the quality of the national reform plans received to date and to what
extent these are credible. MEPs also put questions about the types of
reforms and investment plans presented by the capitals, and to what
extent these were simply repackaged plans. They also asked about when
the first funds could be plausibly disbursed, the attention being paid
to social and environmental objectives, and what possibilities existed
for using the Facility to contribute to a government’s recurrent
expenditure.
The Commissioners said that the first disbursements
could be envisioned for July, although all such disbursements would be
strictly linked to meeting the reforms which countries would have
committed to in their plans. The quality of the national plans submitted
was broadly good, although fine-tuning would certainly be necessary and
coming up with appropriate reforms had been a challenge, they added.
Commissioner Gentiloni also said that the main difficulty for many of
the member states would be that of executing all of what they commit to
in writing. Executive Vice President Dombrovskis defended the social
credentials of the Facility, arguing that member states needed to
clearly explain how their National Plan would contribute to
strengthening the country’s social policies.
MEPs were also
interested in receiving commitments from the Commission that the
dialogue established would truly allow the European Parliament to feed
into the process, and also that national parliaments would also be
properly involved. Mr Dombrovskis assured MEPs that all information
would be provided to them, including that of the preparatory bodies and
that this would amount to the same information as that provided to the
Council.
You can watch the debate again here.
Background
The Reform and Recovery Facility
Dialogue between the EP and the Commission is established by Article 26
of the Regulation setting up the Recovery and Resilience Facility.
Moreover, the European Parliament has established a working group to
further ensure the thorough scrutiny of the process.
In
accordance with the article, the competent committees of the European
Parliament may invite the Commission every two months to discuss:
- the state of recovery, resilience and adjustment capacity in the Union, as well as the measures adopted under the Regulation;
- the recovery and resilience plans of the Member States;
- the assessment of the recovery and resilience plans of the Member States;
- the main findings of the review report referred to in Article 16(2);
- the status of fulfilment of the milestones and targets of the recovery and resilience plans of the Member States;
- payment, suspension and termination procedures, including any
observation presented and remedial measures taken by the Member States
to ensure a satisfactory fulfilment of the milestones and targets;
- any other relevant information and documentation provided by the
Commission to the competent committee of the European Parliament in
relation to the implementation of the Facility
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