About the study

This study assesses the effectiveness and legitimacy of the RRF’s governance design, by analyzing its practical functioning during the drafting, implementation, and monitoring of the National Recovery and Resilience Plans (NRRPs) in eight member states: Belgium, Croatia, Estonia, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Slovakia, and Spain. More specifically, the study examines the extent to which governments took ownership of the Plans; the inclusivity of their drafting; and the role of the Commission in steering the process. On implementation and monitoring, it traces how RRF governance has affected domestic policy making; what obstacles have arisen in the implementation process; and how monitoring by the Commission works in practice, with particular attention to its interpretive flexibility and administrative load. The study then goes on to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the RRF’s governance model, and proposes revisions to be incorporated into the design of any successor to the RRF itself, as well as to that of any similar EU policy instrument. The study was commissioned by the Foundation for European Progressive Studies.

Speaker

Jonathan Zeitlin is Distinguished Faculty Professor of Public Policy and Governance Emeritus at the University of Amsterdam and Founding Director Emeritus of the Amsterdam Centre for European Studies (ACES). He is currently also a Visiting Scholar at the Carlo Azeglio Ciampi Institute for Advanced Study of the Scuola Normale Superiore, and a Visiting Fellow at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies of the European University Institute, both in Florence.