The Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) is a temporary instrument that is the centrepiece of NextGenerationEU -the EU’s plan to emerge stronger and more resilient from the COVID 19 crisis.
Through the Facility, the Commission raises funds by borrowing on the capital markets (issuing bonds on behalf of the EU). These are then available to its Member States, to implement ambitious reforms and investments that:
- make their economies and societies more sustainable, resilient and prepared for the green and digital transitions, in line with the EU’s priorities;
- address the challenges identified in country-specific recommendations under the European Semester framework of economic and social policy coordination.
The RRF is also crucial for implementing the REPowerEU plan – the Commission’s response to the socio-economic hardships and global energy market disruption caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
* The total financial envelope of the RRF at end-January 2026 stood at EUR 577 billion. This breaks down to EUR 360 billion in grants and EUR 217 billion in loans. The EUR 360 billion in grants is split in EUR 338 billion from the original RRF financial allocation, EUR 20 billion stemming from the auctioning of allowances under the Emissions Trading System (ETS) and EUR 2 billion in grants from the Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR). Furthermore, Member States could request loan support until August 2023. Of the total available envelope of EUR 385 billion, EUR 291 billion had been committed by end 2023. Of this, EUR 74 billion were decommitted by end-January 2026 as eight Member States downscaled their loan envelope, bringing the committed loan support to EUR 217 billion. This is in line with the Commission’ recommendation, in the Communication “NextGenerationEU – The road to 2026” of 4 June 2025 for Member States to prioritise securing the grants allocation.
The Recovery and Facility is the first performance-based instrument
- The Facility entered into force on 19 February 2021. It finances reforms and investments in EU Member States made from the start of the pandemic in February 2020 until 31 December 2026. Countries can receive financing up to a previously agreed maximum amount.
- To benefit from support under the Facility, EU governments have submitted national recovery and resilience plans, outlining the reforms and investments they will implement by end-2026, with clear milestones and targets. The plans had to allocate at least 37% of their budget to green measures and 20% to digital measures.
- The Recovery and Resilience Facility is performance based. This means that the Commission only pays out the amounts to each country when they have achieved the agreed milestones and targets towards completing the reforms and investments included in their plan.
- When Member States have completed the agreed milestones and targets, governments request payment (up to twice a year).
- The Commission assesses these requests for payment to check that the milestones and targets have been fulfilled. If so, it disburses the amounts it has raised on the capital markets.
The Scoreboard gives an overview of progress in implementing the Facility and the national recovery and resilience plans.
Member States can revise their plans based on the available legal grounds under the RRF Regulation. The Guidance on Recovery and Resilience Plans in the context of REPowerEU of February 2023 describes in detail how Member States can request such amendments.
A revision can be linked to financial aspects, that is:
- to benefit from additional REPowerEU funds;
- to reflect a change in a Member State's maximum financial allocation under the RRF;
- resources needed in order to take up additional RRF loans.
Member States can also amend their plan if they can demonstrate that objective circumstances render the implementation of certain milestones and targets unfeasible. For example, those objective circumstances could be linked to inflation, shortages in the supply chain or the fact that there is a better alternative to fulfil the intended policy objective of a measure.
The Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) is a temporary instrument that is the centrepiece of NextGenerationEU - the EU’s plan to emerge stronger and more resilient from the COVID-19 crisis.
As the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) is nearing its 2026 deadline, it continues to deliver tangible results and long-lasting impact on Europeans’ daily life.
All relevant country-specific information, such as the recovery and resilience plans and key points about them, and where available, the legal texts approving the plan and accompanying press material.
- This group of experts serves as an important forum for the Commission and national governments to exchange views on cross-cutting aspects that arise in the context of implementing the Recovery and Resilience Facility.
- The group consists of members of the national coordinating bodies for implementing the recovery and resilience plans and is jointly chaired by the SG REFORM Taskforce within the European Commission’s Secretariat-General and the Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs. It meets periodically with experts from each EU country to exchange views on the implementation of their recovery and resilience plans.
- Furthermore, it facilitates and promotes the exchange of good practice on many aspects of RRF implementation. The Commission publishes all relevant documents, such as agendas, minutes, reports, opinions, recommendations and others, on a dedicated website.
- INFORM EU is an EU-wide network of communication officers responsible for communicating about EU and national investments under certain EU funds, including the Recovery and Resilience Facility. More information and contacts.
- Recipients of EU funding have a general obligation to acknowledge the origin of any EU funding they have received and ensure that this fact is prominently displayed. This applies also to the funding under the Recovery and Resilience Facility. More information and guidance for national authorities on the communication and visibility requirements under the Recovery and Resilience Facility and other EU funds can be found on the dedicated webs