Bigger transparency of RRF spending. The clock is ticking

Published date

15 Mar, 2023

The amendments to the RRF Regulation were published in the Official Journal of the EU. Not perfect, but good. It is about making it compulsory to publish the data of the 100 largest recipients of RFF funds (both legal entities and individuals). This obligation will be imposed on Member States and links to these datasets will be published on the EC website.

According to the Commission's explanations, the countries should prepare the first datasets in a few weeks or so. What this means in practice is that countries will have to do an analysis of all recipients to determine who fits into this 100. This is a field to persuade governments to publish more than they are required to by regulation. It is worth contacting/ following up on developments in your countries.

In the meantime - in the beginning of April - we will publish a monitoring report on the transparency of RRF spending and I hope it will be helpful in showing governments how to be even more transparent in this context. Below is the content of the new provision and here is a link to the OJ.

Art 25a. Transparency with regard to final recipients

1. Each Member State shall create an easy-to-use public portal containing data on the 100 final recipients receiving the highest amount of funding for the implementation of measures under the Facility. Member States shall update those data twice a year.

2. For the final recipients referred to in paragraph 1, the following information shall be published:

(a)	in the case of a legal person, the recipient’s full legal name and VAT identification number or tax identification number, where available, or another unique identifier established at the national level,

(b)	in the case of a natural person, the first and last name of the recipient;

(c)	the amount received by each recipient, as well as the associated measures for which a Member State has received funding under the Facility.

3. The information referred to in Article 38(3) of the Financial Regulation shall not be published.

4. Where personal data are published, the information referred to in paragraph 2 shall be removed by the Member State concerned two years after the end of the financial year in which the funding has been paid to the final recipient.

5. The Commission shall centralise the Member States’ public portals and publish the data referred to in paragraph 1 in the recovery and resilience scoreboard referred to in Article 30.’