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Economy and Finance
Conferences and summits

Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and European Strategic Investments and Reforms: state of play and way forward

RRF event 2024

The European Commission and the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union organised this event to mark the publication of the mid-term evaluation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). It took place on 9 April 2024, in Brussels, Art & History Museum (Cinquantenaire) and online.

The event was an opportunity to reflect on the results of the RRF so far, including concrete investments and reforms. It will also look ahead at the remaining challenges and at how to ensure the RRF achieves its objectives over the remaining three years. Finally, it was an opportunity to discuss how the RRF, as an innovative funding instrument, could serve as an inspiration for further EU support to reforms and investments, as the need for strategic reforms and investments will remain high in the future.

 

  • Recovery and Resilience Facility
  • Tuesday 9 April 2024, 08:00 - 16:30 (CEST)
  • Brussels, Belgium
  • Live streaming available

Media

 

 

Programme

  1. 9 Apr 2024, 08:00 - 09:00 (CEST)
    Doors open and networking coffee
  2. 09:00 (CEST)
    Welcome by moderator

    Barbara Moens, Politico

  3. 09:00 - 09:30 (CEST)
    Opening address

    Paolo Gentiloni, Commissioner for the Economy, European Commission

    Thomas Dermine, Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Secretary of State, Belgium

  4. 09:30 - 10:30 (CEST)
    Panel 1: RRF delivers

    Results and lessons learned of the first three years (Based on the RRF mid-term evaluation, what were the accomplishments of the first 3 years? What could be improved? Why is the RRF an innovative instrument?)

    Panel discussion:

    • Maarten Verwey, Director General for Economic and Financial Affairs, European Commission
    • Niki Kerameus,Minister of Interior, Greece
    • Thomas Dermine, Secretary of State, Belgium
    • Heather Roy, Vice-President and Acting President, the Social Platform
    • James Watson, Director of Economics,Business Europe
  5. 10:30 - 11:00 (CEST)
    Coffee break
  6. 11:00 - 12:00 (CEST)
    Showcase session: Focus on individual projects

    Focus on 4 emblematic RRF projects EU-wide with local representatives and other final recipients.

    • Maria Teresa Fabregas Fernandez, Director in the Recovery & Resilience Task Force, European Commission
    • Geraldine Mahieu, Director forInvestment, growth and structural reforms, DG ECFIN, European Commission
    • Jarmo Heinonen, Senior Director, Business Finland
    • Matthias Beitl, Director of the Ethnographic Museum in Vienna
    • Victor Rodrigo Raya, Director of Digital Toolkit programme in RED.ES, Spain
    • Kaja Zoran Ledinek, Director at Solis Timber, Slovenia
  7. 12:00 - 13:00 (CEST)
    Networking Lunch
  8. 13:00 - 14:00 (CEST)
    Presentation of the Bruegel Policy Paper on « Strategic Investment », commissioned by the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union

    Moderated by: Thomas Dermine, Secretary of State, Belgium

    • Presenter: Maria Demertzis, Bruegel
    • Bruno Colmant, Professor of Economics
    • Debora Revoltella, Chief Economist, European Investment Bank
    • Karolina Ekholm, Head of the Swedish Debt Management Office
  9. 14:00 - 14:10 (CEST)
    Keynote speech

    Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice-President responsible for an Economy that Works for People, European Commission

  10. 14:10 - 15:10 (CEST)
    Panel 2: RRF Transforms

    More reforms and investments to come (How to make the best of the RRF over the remaining period and address implementation challenges?)

    Panel discussion:

    • Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice-President responsible for an Economy that Works for People, European Commission
    • Vincent van Peteghem, Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Belgium
    • Siegfried Mureşan, Member of the European Parliament
    • Esther Lynch, General Secretary, European Trade Union Confederation
    • Eulalia Rubio, Senior research fellow, Notre Europe – Institut Jacques Delors
  11. 15:10 - 15:30 (CEST)
    Coffee break
  12. 15:30 - 16:30 (CEST)
    Panel 3: The RRF Inspires

    Long-term impact of the RRF as an innovative tool (What worked well so far? What could still be improved? Which RRF elements could be used in future EU funding programmes?)

    Panel discussion:

    • Nadia Calviño, President, European Investment Bank (video message)
    • Céline Gauer, Head of the Recovery and Resilience Task Force, European Commission
    • Margarida Marques, Member of the European Parliament
    • Francesco Corti, Associate Research Fellow, Centre for European Policy Studies
  13. 16:30 (CEST)
    Closing by moderator and end of the event

Practical information

When
Tuesday 9 April 2024, 08:00 - 16:30 (CEST)
Where
Royal Museums of Art and History
Cinquantenaire Park 10, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
Languages
English