Spain and Italy have requested and obtained approval from the European Commission to postpone key targets of their post-Covid recovery plans, according to the latest report from the European Court of Auditors.
Spain has delayed the renovation of 231,000 residential homes by one year, also reducing the total renovation target from 510,000 to 410,000. due to the impact of inflation and the increase in raw material pricesIn Italy, the lack of demand to build 2,500 fast charging stations for electric vehicles, caused by a shortage of materials, has led to the corresponding measure being postponed until 2024.
Therefore, the TCEU warned that Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) funds progressing more slowly than expected in the real economy, which could jeopardise the full implementation of certain planned measures within the time limits.
It should also be noted that In Spain, by the end of 2023, 80% of pending applications for payment of subsidies and loans had been submitted. According to the Court of Auditors, these delays were due to the increase in the CPI, supply problems, uncertainty regarding environmental regulations and the country’s limited administrative capacity.
Far from being an exception, delays in the timing of payment requests have become a widespread problem in all EU countries.
The auditor responsible for the report, Ivana Maletic, said it was necessary insist on the completion of the funded measures and if this objective is not achieved, tools are needed to recover the funds, which is not currently provided for in the regulations. Furthermore, he urged the European Commission to develop a plan to mitigate the risk of accumulation of delays and prevent incomplete measures from receiving a large disbursement.
Seven EU countries have not yet received subsidies
According to the Court of Auditors, at the end of 2023, Belgium, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland and Sweden they had not yet received any post-Covid grants. Most Member States experienced delays in submitting their payment requests, due to factors such as political instability, regulatory uncertainty or limitations in their national administrative capacity, the report said.
Netherlands and Hungary They failed to sign operational agreements, an initial condition for accessing EU funds, while Sweden did not submit any payment requests. The Netherlands was also affected by the protracted negotiations to form a government coalition. In fact, implementing the recovery and resilience plan required political consensus and government support that the country did not have.
The new right-wing government in the Netherlands became official in July with the signing of a royal decree, surprising analysts by coming to power amid growing discontent that has strengthened anti-immigration parties across Europe. After months of political wrangling, an agreement was reached for the new government to be led by Dick Schoof, a former intelligence chief.
In the case of Hungary, Viktor Orbán’s government has 27 steps to take to combat corruption and ensure the independence of the judiciary, which it has not yet achieved. The other four countries (Belgium, Finland, Ireland and Poland) submitted their payment requests later than the others, so that at the end of 2023, they were still being assessed by the European Commission, which directly administers the fund.
The recovery and resilience mechanism has a maximum total value of 723.8 billion eurosof which 338 billion are granted in grants and 385.8 billion in loans.
