Belgium's National Recovery and Resilience Plan: Latest state of play

The EU's Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) is the core component of Next Generation EU, a temporary recovery instrument that allows the European Commission to raise funds to help the economic and social recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic. By promoting the sustainable and inclusive recovery that ensures the green and digital transitions make progress, the RRF is consistent with the Commission's priorities. Belgium's initial maximum contribution to finance its national recovery and resilience plan (NRRP) was set to €5 924 million in grants. However, the maximum financial contribution was updated in June 2022 and reduced to €4 523 million. In addition, the non-repayable allocation for the REPowerEU chapter to reinforce the NRRP's energy dimension is set at €281 million. Belgium also submitted a reasoned request to transfer part of its provisional allocation from the resources of the Brexit Adjustment Reserve to the RRF (€228 million). Finally, Belgium requested a loan support of €264 million. The overall EU financial contribution to the amended Belgian NRRP stands thus at €5 298 million; it represents 0.7 % of the entire RRF, and 1.1 % of Belgium's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019. The Council approved Belgium's amended NRRP on 8 December 2023. In total, Belgium received €915.1 million in pre-financing: 13 % of the initial NRRP (€770 million, all grants) in 2021, and 20 % of the REPowerEU chapter (€102.1 million in grants, €43 million in loans) in January 2024. The European Parliament, which was a major advocate of creating a common EU recovery instrument, participates in interinstitutional forums for cooperation and discussion on RRF implementation and scrutinises the European Commission's work. This briefing is one in a series covering all EU Member States. Second edition. The 'NGEU delivery' briefings are updated at key stages throughout the lifecycle of the plans.