The Netherlands is not the only country lagging behind, but it is far behind. The hundreds of billions of euros made available through the European coronavirus recovery fund in 2021 are far from being spent by EU member states, according to a report by the European Court of Auditors published on Monday.
The Netherlands only submitted a first application for 1.3 billion euros in May of this year, said a spokesman for the European Court of Auditors. The government also only signed the special regulation at that time, he said. The regulation has been in force since 2021.
With the money from the fund (RRF), all member states of the European Union can invest in projects to overcome the economic consequences of the corona pandemic. These include, for example, investments in digitalization and the green transition.
The European Commission has now approved this first application from the Netherlands. The finance ministers of the EU member states will discuss the approval at a later date.
The Netherlands wants to spend this first 1.3 billion on investments in health, education, the construction of affordable housing and digitalization. A total of 5.4 billion euros is available for the Netherlands.
At the end of last year, less than a third of EU countries had applied for the budget available to them from the fund. Furthermore, only about half of the money that has been transferred from Brussels to the member states so far has reached the “final recipients”, including private companies and schools.
The European Court of Auditors warns of the risk that applications for European money from the recovery fund will be further delayed and that projects will not be completed on time. Member states will therefore “not be able to benefit from the expected economic and social advantages,” says the Court. The budget will remain available until August 2026.
“The RRF money must be used in a timely manner so that the measures can be implemented without any problems before the end of the facility. This will also reduce the risk of inefficient or irregular spending,” says Ivana Maletić, the member of the European Court of Auditors responsible for the audit.
Once paid out, money cannot be reclaimed.
