Recovery and Resilience Plans in Belgium, Germany, France, Italy and Spain

This article analyses the Recovery and Resilience Plans submitted by the four big euro area countries (Germany, France, Italy and Spain) and Belgium. These Plans describe the investments and reforms that they intend to carry out with a view to strengthening their economies. A s required, the five countries considered will use the EU grants mainly to finance green and digital investment. Italy, Spain and France also intend to spend about 1/3 of the grants on other projects such as labour market, education and skills; R&D and innovation; cohesion; health;... In exchange for a higher share of grants, Italy and Spain have committed to more comprehensive reforms designed to effectively address their imbalances and structural weaknesses than Germany, France and Belgium. Italy and Spain have already implemented substantial reforms in 2021 before the first instalment of grants was requested. Others will follow as soon as in 2022. Going forward, actual implementation will be key. In Belgium, the EU grants should be an opportunity to help push through structural reforms supporting the green and digital transitions and enhancing the growth potential.