The National Recovery and Resilience Plans and the European Semester

In July 2020, the EU heads of government agreed on the main elements of the Commission’s COVID-19 recovery plan. The Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) is part of this agreement and aims to enhance cohesion and resilience on the EU Member States following the COVID-19 pandemic. The RRF will enable the provision of up to 369 billion Euros in loansand up to 312.5 billion Euros in grants. For this, governments have to provide national recovery and resilience plans (NRRP) to be agreed at national and at EU level. These NRRPs should be consisted with the latest Country Specific Recommendations as adopted by the Council within the European Semester and should support reforms and investments.

The European Semester provides a framework for the coordination of economic policies across the European Union and allows EU countries to discuss their economic and budget plans and monitor progress at specific times throughout the year.  An important progress has been the Commission’s commitment “to refocus the European Semester on integrating the SDGs“.

While both the NRRPs as well as the EuropeanSemester process have big economic implications on the European countries and its citizens, civil society organizations are still only marginally involved in many countries. As the deadline 30th of April for the finalization of the NRRPsapproaches, the need for civil society involvement in the discussion around the recovery plans as well as long-term Semester process becomes more apparent.

In this webinar, we want to provide civil society organizations in Europe with a general understanding of the European Semester process. Why is it important? How should CSOs get involved? What is the role of the NRRPs in the Semester? What is the role SDGs play in those processes? 

Agenda

Input by

Julie Rosenkilde – What is the European Semester andwhy is it important

Inese Vaivare (LAPAS, Latvia) and tbc – Civil Society Engagement in the NRRPs of different countries

Followed by discussionand strategic planning  

If you are interested in joining our workshop, please register. Registration link will follow shortly.

Feel free to forwardthe invitation to your colleagues and networks, and contact us for any otherquestions.