Members from the Committee on Budgets (BUDG) and the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affair (ECON) hold the first Recovery and Resilience Dialogue with Valdis DOMBROVSKIS, Executive Vice-President for an Economy that Works for People, and Commissioner for Trade, and Paolo GENTILONI, Commissioner for Economy, in the European Parliament in Brussels. This transcription speech is the result of an automatic process. Check against delivery.

Recovery and Resilience Dialogue: introductory remarks by the Chairs and opening statements by Valdis DOMBROVSKIS, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, and Paolo GENTILONI, European Commissioner for Economy

SOUNDBITE (Original), Irene TINAGLI (S&D, IT), ECON Chair, That's it, so now we can move on to the next point in the agenda, which is our first recovery and resilience dialogue. And on this respect, I would like to welcome today Executive Vice President Dombrovskis and Commissioner Gentiloni for this first recovery resilience dialogue organised in line with Article 26 of the Regulation Twenty one publishing the Recovery and Resilience Facility.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Irene TINAGLI (S&D, IT), ECON Chair, We expect that this dialogue, based on the continuous and fruitful cooperation between institutions over the next months and years, will represent a crucial step for further integration in our Union. RRF along with other programmes, such a chore represents a crucial step in the right direction towards a deepening of our economic and monetary union funding and supporting investments and reforms in line with the needs of the union and member states for their overall and their resilience.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Irene TINAGLI (S&D, IT), ECON Chair, Today, it's a very important day to reinforce the role of the Parliament in our effort. As you will know, the Parliament intends to make this dialogue and scrutiny is serious and aimed at exercise when the success is facility as well as the state of the recovery, resilience and the adjustment in the union.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Irene TINAGLI (S&D, IT), ECON Chair, The Parliament has been able to shake this facility with strength in many aspects. The six pillars represent an important component of our action, and we will ensure that the plans match with the patients of innovation and digital transformation, green transition, economic and institutional and territorial cohesion and policies for the next generation and social policies in line with implementation of the social pillar, which has been also the core of the Porto's summit just a few days ago.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Irene TINAGLI (S&D, IT), ECON Chair, The six pillars strategy of this facility represents a very good example of the approach which intends to tackle challenges of the next decades on an integrated European basis, impacting our society, economy and environment, fragilities in our single market, climate change, sortable abilities that arose and during the pandemic.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Irene TINAGLI (S&D, IT), ECON Chair, We also trust that the commission will provide the Parliament when all information needed in a timely manner in order to ensure that such a plan is effective and in line with the role design for the Parliament.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Irene TINAGLI (S&D, IT), ECON Chair, The dialogue is fundamental not only for ensuring that the commission is making its assessment for the plans, but also to ensure that all the European communities can be an instrument from the monitoring of the dialogue between governments and local communities and stakeholders, the appropriate assessment of expenditures for green transformation, including biodiversity and for the digital transformation based on the new methodologies to the evaluation of the European added value of the measures proposed in the upcoming delegated acts on the scoreboard and social expenditure. ECON and BUDG committees are looking forward to engaging with the commission in this dialogue. So now I will give the floor to Johan will be chairing the first part of the dialogue.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Johan VAN OVERTVELDT, BUDG Chair, Thank you Irene. I would also, of course, like to welcome Executive Vice President Dombrovskis and Commissioner Gentiloni for our first recovery and resilience dialogue. This dialogue kicks off every two months, exchanges on the progress of the implementation of the RRF regulation and, of course, like Irene also already underlined we look forward to have this discussion.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Johan VAN OVERTVELDT, BUDG Chair, The meeting of today will be organised as follows. The commissioners will be given seven minutes each for their introductory statements. Then they will be followed by a question and answer session with budget and econ members each having two minutes for questions and then each commissioner, each commissioner having two minutes to answer. That means blocks of six minutes.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Johan VAN OVERTVELDT, BUDG Chair, If time allows additional slots will be allocated to members wishing to take the floor, thereby taking due account of the waitings of each of the political groups. I would also very much like to ask you to respect the timing given to you. And all this being said, I now immediately pass the floor to Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis for seven minutes. Valdis, please.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Valdis DOMBROVSKIS, , Executive Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of an Economy that works for People, and Commissioner for Trade, Honourable Chairs, honourable members, I am pleased to see you again and to kick start this first recovery and resilience dialogue, the commission stands ready to engage with the parliament throughout the implementation of the facility.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Valdis DOMBROVSKIS, , Executive Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of an Economy that works for People, and Commissioner for Trade, We are fully committed to regularly discuss the issue was in our dialogue framework. Also, the commission will ensure that both the European Parliament and the Council receive all that information at the same time. Our teams have cooperated very closely to set up an efficient system for information sharing. I'm grateful that Honourable Chairs have just confirmed agreement on the practical arrangements that we suggest in our letter of last week regarding the delegated acts on the scoreboard, common indicators and tracking of social expenditure.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Valdis DOMBROVSKIS, , Executive Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of an Economy that works for People, and Commissioner for Trade, We set up an expert group for consulting that member states to which we have invited observers from the Parliament and the Council. The first meeting took place on 17th of May and so it will take place on 17 of May and we envisage not adopt the delegated acts this autumn.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Valdis DOMBROVSKIS, , Executive Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of an Economy that works for People, and Commissioner for Trade, For the past months the commission has been engaging intensively with national authorities. Our role was to help ensure that the recovery and resilience plans are of high quality and meet all regulatory requirements. I have been very closely involved in many of these discussions and I can say that there were very intense, constructive and appreciated by member states.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Valdis DOMBROVSKIS, , Executive Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of an Economy that works for People, and Commissioner for Trade, The facility is a unique opportunity to support the recovery and to help transform our economies, making them more inclusive, green and digital. This opportunity must not be missed. This is why the plants need to ensure a high level of ambition with the right balance of investments and the reforms they need to address at least a significant subset of challenges in the country specific recommendations under the European Semester. And it must respect the climate and digital mainstreaming targets.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Valdis DOMBROVSKIS, , Executive Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of an Economy that works for People, and Commissioner for Trade, They must support our growth potential for years to come, not just bring short little research in GDP.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Valdis DOMBROVSKIS, , Executive Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of an Economy that works for People, and Commissioner for Trade, With a submission of First Plans the facility is now coming to life. We have so far received 14 plans from Portugal, Greece, Germany, France, Slovakia, Denmark, Luxembourg, Latvia, Slovenia, Austria, Spain, Belgium, Italy and Poland. I think this is a good result, especially 30th of April was not a strict deadline. So there are no consequences for member states submitting plans later.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Valdis DOMBROVSKIS, , Executive Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of an Economy that works for People, and Commissioner for Trade, Drawing up plans for the next six years while fighting the pandemic is objectively a challenging task, and a quality of the plans is a first priority. A good book quality plan that will allow us most adoption and will also facilitate implementation and payments later on.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Valdis DOMBROVSKIS, , Executive Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of an Economy that works for People, and Commissioner for Trade, Some member states will still need more time to ensure the necessary balance and quality and also to complete the national procedures. But most plans are close to completion, and we expect that submission still this month on or in early June four plans received. We have begun the assessment along the 11 criteria of the regulation involving experts from across the Commission within the two months to assess their plans and transpose their content into proposals for legally binding council implementing decisions, including some milestones on targets which will be linked to upcoming events.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Valdis DOMBROVSKIS, , Executive Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of an Economy that works for People, and Commissioner for Trade, It should be expected that the first commission proposals are presented in the second half of June. The council of Amsterdam aims to adopt the council implementing decision was in one month. While I cannot now enter into details on the ongoing assessment. Overall, we can be pleased with what has been achieved without prejudice to the assessment of individual plans. Overall, I can say is that a good balance between reforms and investments has been found, and it appears that green and digital targets will be met in some cases with a good margin.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Valdis DOMBROVSKIS, , Executive Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of an Economy that works for People, and Commissioner for Trade, Finally, is a glance how overall a strong social dimension, including elements on social inclusion and equality. That facility will contribute to the implementation of the European pillar of social rights. I just came back from a border over all partners have signed up to our city 2030 social targets which should guide policy decisions, including in the context of the RRF implementation, said EU leaders adopted all sorts border declaration highlighting pillar of social rights is a fundamental element of the honourable members.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Valdis DOMBROVSKIS, , Executive Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of an Economy that works for People, and Commissioner for Trade, for the months ahead, our watchword will be implementation. The RRF funds should provide a strong imposter's economy, especially if the funds are spent well and accompanied by effective reforms. We estimate that the real GDP in the EU will rise by up to two percent over the years before they are ready for implementation to be successful broad ownership and support is critical.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Valdis DOMBROVSKIS, , Executive Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of an Economy that works for People, and Commissioner for Trade, This requires involvement also of national parliaments, strong regional and local ownership, as well as support from social partners and civil society. The regulation requests member states to report on the national consultation process, and the commission is strongly encouraging. Their involvement in every stage of the process.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Valdis DOMBROVSKIS, , Executive Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of an Economy that works for People, and Commissioner for Trade, I therefore very much welcome the letters of the colleagues adresss to Paolo and myself are supporting us in this front. As the recovery is expected to take hold in the second half of the year with gradual easing of containment measures. It is now important that first RRF funds will become available this summer.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Valdis DOMBROVSKIS, , Executive Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of an Economy that works for People, and Commissioner for Trade, From the commission side, we will be ready. But before that, their own resources decision will have to be ratified by all member states. At this stage, the ratification is still pending by eight member states. However, we expect that three out of the third or say it could be, ratify a decision still this week. And a case we call on all member states to ratify the decision before the first of July. Thank you. I stop here and pass the floor over to Paolo.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Paolo GENTILONI, European Commissioner for Economy, Well, thank you. Thank you about this. Good morning chairs and honourable members, let me also stress the importance of this dialogue has about this said before. Exactly in this moment, we are now beginning the assessment of these 14 plans that were received until now and with the involvement of experts from across the Commission.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Paolo GENTILONI, European Commissioner for Economy, You know, that recovery and resilience plan are assessed by the recovery task force but in association with the colleagues from all relevant commission services who have expertise on climate digital transport policies except the steering board provides political guidance. The timing is that we will adopt implementing the council implementing decision, the proposal for council implementing decision in the second part of June.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Paolo GENTILONI, European Commissioner for Economy, And of course, the own resources decision is essential. It is also a precondition to enable the commission to commit the money through the signature of the financing agreement with the member states.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Paolo GENTILONI, European Commissioner for Economy, So the process is on the right track all in all, with a lot of work ahead of us and with the need of strong cooperation with the European Parliament, the Council and national stakeholders on the substance of the plans on the climate dimension, if based on the Commission assessment plan does not reach the target on climate, you know that the commission cannot endorse it.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Paolo GENTILONI, European Commissioner for Economy, So the dialogue with member states and the feedback provided by the commission have been an important step in this process. And I have to say it has helped to readjust in some cases, the proposed investment and the associated decking, if necessary, beyond proposing measures that effectively contribute to the green transition Member states also have to ensure that none of their measures do significant harm to the six environmental objectives set out in the taxonomy regulation.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Paolo GENTILONI, European Commissioner for Economy, The commission, as you know, published the technical guidance in February to guide member states in designing the measures in compliance with this principle. This is a new process for member states and we are seeing significant progress on this front after having intensively work with member states on their assessments.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Paolo GENTILONI, European Commissioner for Economy, So the recovery resilience plan include a variety of measures in the green transit transition, including biodiversity, to give you a few example. In the field of clean, clean power, we are seeing measures promoting the deployment of renewable electricity such as offshore wind.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Paolo GENTILONI, European Commissioner for Economy, Several plans also include investments in renewable hydrogen, which will be a key enabler of a sustainable industrial production and a sustainable mobility in the field of innovation. We are seeing ambitious measures and action addressing extensive energy innovations in buildings.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Paolo GENTILONI, European Commissioner for Economy, And the plans also include transport measures, with the majority going to investments in sustainable mobility, such a railway charging station for zero emission vehicles and new cycle tracks on digital.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Paolo GENTILONI, European Commissioner for Economy, Member states have included measures to digitalise the public sector, such as the digital digitises of public administration, justice and healthcare systems. Many member states have also focussed on investing in digital skills and digital education and have proposed a broad range of investment to connect Europe and increase our cohesion.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Paolo GENTILONI, European Commissioner for Economy, For example, many member states take the opportunity of the facility to accelerate the rollout of 5G and fibre networks and to invest in network infrastructure for schools. On the issue of gender and equality mainstreaming, the commission will carry out dedicated assessments of the equality aspects in the plans.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Paolo GENTILONI, European Commissioner for Economy, Preliminary discussion and assessments indicate that the draught plans address equality aspects across the board. Some member states focus on gender equality, while others are looking more at equal opportunities with a focus on specific vulnerable groups such as people with a migrant background or people with disabilities or older people.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Paolo GENTILONI, European Commissioner for Economy, This brings me to the topic of delegated acts and notably the one defining a methodology for reporting on social expenditure. A methodology that is tailor made for the RRF takes into account the request of the Parliament to ensure that the reinforced social dimension in the regulation is properly reflected in the methodology.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Paolo GENTILONI, European Commissioner for Economy, Capture all expenditure financed by the facility relating to reforms of the investments on employment and skills, education and child care and long term care and social policies, and allows to additionally flag measures which include the focus on children and the youth and or a focus on gender equality.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Paolo GENTILONI, European Commissioner for Economy, And second delegated act will address the scoreboard and common indicators on the implementation of the facility. We expect, as Valdis said, final adoption this autumn, in addition to our dialogue, Commission services are at the disposal of your working group in the scrutiny of the recovery and resilience facility.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Paolo GENTILONI, European Commissioner for Economy, Now, we have two months for the assessments of the plans accordingly. We expect to share our first proposal for council implementation in June. So we are under a lot of pressure to deliver swiftly.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Paolo GENTILONI, European Commissioner for Economy, Until then, we will not be able to discuss points that could prejudge the commission's assessment. But we are, however, fully committed to to take on board the views of the Parliament. As clearly stated in the regulation, we will be able to do that. And to the extent that those views, for instance, by way of the resolutions are being provided in a timely manner. Thank you, Chair.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Johan VAN OVERTVELDT, BUDG Chair, Thank you, Vice-President Dombrovskis and Commissioner Gentiloni, in order to gain time I propose that after each of the members intervention, both commissioners take over immediately so that we can shorten the intervals.

Recovery and Resilience Dialogue: introductory remarks by the Chairs and opening statements by Valdis DOMBROVSKIS, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, and Paolo GENTILONI, European Commissioner for Economy

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ECON - Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs

BUDG - Committee on Budgets