Source: European Parliament
Question for written answer E-000747/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Julien Sanchez (PfE)
The NextGenerationEU recovery plan was set up in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a budget of over EUR 800 billion. Its key instrument is the temporary Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), which has been allocated funding of EUR 723 billion: EUR 338 billion in grants and EUR 385 billion in loans[1] (2022 prices). It is used to finance the Member States’ reforms and investments.
The 2023 Annual Report on the protection of the European Union’s financial interests refers to cases of suspected fraud and 13 audits. The European Public Prosecutor’s Office reports 233 ongoing RRF investigations, with estimated damages of EUR 1.86 billion to date, involving criminal networks using shell companies, straw buyers and falsified documents.
- 1.Will the Commission publish detailed information on the fraud identified in the RRF? What obstacles does it face in this regard?
- 2.Could it demonstrate that it is not seeking to make the RRF less transparent by making it impossible for MEPs to monitor it, which many people believe to be the case?
Submitted: 19.2.2025
- [1] European Court of Auditors Special report 26/2023 on the Recovery and Resilience Facility’s performance monitoring framework, p. 4.