The European Parliament together with the French Parliament organised a virtual European Parliamentary Week 2022 on 15-16 March 2022. The European Parliamentary Week consists of the European Semester Conference and the Interparliamentary Conference on Stability, Economic Coordination and Governance in the European Union.

This year the conference was dominated by the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on EU economies, its recovery and next steps. The parliamentarians will debated on the implementation of the national recovery and resilience plans as well as on the reform of the Stability and Growth Pact and the new own-resources. Roberta Metsola, EP President, opened the event which counts with several Prime Ministers and European Commissioners among the high-level speakers.

The Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) is intended to be the Union's main tool in support of economic and social recovery from the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic. The RRF entered into force on 19 February 2021 It will provide €672.5 billion in grants and loans as financial support over the coming years. The Facility is the flagship instrument of Next Generation EU and aims to offer large-scale financial support for public investment and reform, in order to mitigate the economic and social consequences of the pandemic in the Member States and to make EU economies more sustainable. The scope of application refers to policy areas related to economic, social and territorial cohesion, the green and digital transitions, health, competitiveness, resilience, productivity, education and skills, research and innovation, smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, jobs and investment, and the stability of the financial systems. In order to receive support through the Facility, Member States are required to produce recovery and resilience plans proposing a congruent set of reforms and public investment projects that could be implemented up until 2026. Currently 22 of the 26 submitted national recovery plans have been approved. The Commission has not yet approved the Hungarian, Polish, Swedish and Bulgarian plans. Requested pre-financing of €52.3 billion has already been disbursed to 17 Member States.

EP Plenary Session - State of play of the RRF (Recovery and Resilience Facility)