The Recovery and Resilience Fund: Accelerating the digitalisation of the EU?

video and audio recordings

The recently enacted Recovery and Resilience Fund (RRF) is the centrepiece of the Next Generation EU (NGEU) programme and constitutes a unique opportunity to supplement national digital and green funding and EU funds available from the standard seven-year EU budget with new EU funds financed by EU borrowing to invest in the future, and to do so in a way that promotes EU solidarity.

Digitalisation investments are encouraged in: connectivity, digital-related investment in R&D, human capital, e-government, digitalisation of businesses, deployment of advanced technologies and greening the digital sector. These priorities are broadly in line with the Commission’s recently announced Digital Decade strategy for 2030. Join us as the panel explores some of the following:

• Are the seven digital goals of the RRF programme the right ones? What is the magnitude of potential societal gains in each of these?
• The RRF calls on countries not only to make investments, but also to modernise policy and administration. Do Member State plans reflect enough regulatory reform?
• Are oversight and coordination mechanisms between the EU and the countries likely to be effective in implementing the programme?
• What downsides or risks (if any) are there in the programme?