Catalina Espinosa
Research expert covering society, economy, and politics for Europe and the EU
Get in touch with us nowNextGenerationEU: RRF grants and loans given to member states as a percentage of GDP
The Recovery & Resilience Facility (RRF) is the key component of the European Union's NextGenEU economic recovery plan. The RRF gives funds directly to the EU member states in the form of loans and grants, with member states having requested funds through through their individual national recovery plans submitted during 2020. The RRF aims to help EU member states to recover economically after the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a severe negative impact on many European countries, both medically and financially.
While the largest support packages were allocated to the large Southern European member states of Italy and Spain, due to the fact that they were the worst affected countries by the pandemic, when looking at the funds allocated in relation to the size of member states' economies, a different picture emerges. Greece, Romania, and Croatia all will receive funds as part of the RRF which are worth a greater share of their GDPs than the package which Italy will receive. The majority of funds overall come in the form of grants, meaning that member states have no repayment obligations to the EU, while a significant amount of funds for member states who are receiving relatively larger packages are made up by loans.
While the largest support packages were allocated to the large Southern European member states of Italy and Spain, due to the fact that they were the worst affected countries by the pandemic, when looking at the funds allocated in relation to the size of member states' economies, a different picture emerges. Greece, Romania, and Croatia all will receive funds as part of the RRF which are worth a greater share of their GDPs than the package which Italy will receive. The majority of funds overall come in the form of grants, meaning that member states have no repayment obligations to the EU, while a significant amount of funds for member states who are receiving relatively larger packages are made up by loans.
