NGEU has disbursed €181.2 billion so far, mostly from its centrepiece, the RRF. With the Council’s approval of Hungary’s plan in December 2022, all recovery plans under the RRF are now up and running. On top of 13 % pre-financing for most plans, 18 EU Member States (BG, CZ, DK, EL, ES, FR, HR, IT, CY, LV, LT, LU, MT, AT, PT, RO, SI, SK) have already received one or more payments, based on the achievement of objectives in the implementation of agreed investment and reform measures in strategic areas, such as the green and digital transitions. Overall, the deployment of the RRF is broadly on track, but variations are emerging across the EU (see EPRS briefing). In February 2023, the European Parliament and the Council agreed to make the RRF the main financing tool of the REPowerEU plan, aimed at ending EU reliance on Russian oil and gas, and further accelerating the energy transition. Member States can now request to add new REPowerEU chapters focused on energy measures to their plans. New grant resources, possible voluntary transfers from other EU budgetary instruments and the unused part of RRF loans are available to finance them. In this context, and with the final deadline (31 August 2023) to request RRF loans approaching, there has been renewed interest in loans. The ongoing revision of plans aims to include REPowerEU chapters and, when justified, also to amend the original plans. This process may trigger some delays in payments later in 2023, but is also an opportunity to address current challenges, such as unexpectedly high inflation.
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