Digital Measures under the Recovery and Resilience Facility: Economic Impacts at Macro, Sectoral and Country Levels

This Discussion Paper analyses the economic impacts of digital measures under the Recovery and Resilience Facility.

Highlights

• The Recovery and Resilience Facility is the cornerstone of NextGenerationEU. With a budget of EUR around 150 billion, dedicated to the digital transition, around 23 % of RRF funding, the RRF finances more than 670 digital reform and investment measures across the EU from 2020 to 2026.
• By leveraging artificial intelligence, we create a new sectoral database, which classifies all digital RRF reform and investment measures into economic sectors. These measures were then further classified along the 4 Digital Decade Policy Programme dimensions.  
• We apply the FIDELIO model and assess the direct and spillover impacts of RRF-funded investments.
• Over the period 2020-2030, we estimate the total impact of digital RRF investments amount to EUR 302.3 billion, corresponding to a multiplier of around 2. This is above the estimated average multiplier for the RRF as a whole, reflecting the concentration of digital investments in high-technology sectors associated with stronger productivity effects.
• The strongest multiplier effects are observed in the areas of digitalisation of public services and businesses and digital skills, which emerge as key drivers of growth.
• Digital investments generate significant cross-border spillovers, underscoring the role of the Single Market in amplifying the effects of national investments.
• Digital investments generate positive economic impacts across a wide range of industries, including sectors that did not directly receive RRF funding. The largest gains are concentrated in manufacturing and ICT services, two capital-intensive and knowledge-intensive sectors.
• All Member States benefit significantly from digital RRF investments, with estimated economic impacts exceeding the initial allocation in almost all Member States. In several highly integrated EU economies with strong positions in digital sectors, such as Germany, France, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Ireland, Luxembourg, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands, the economic impacts are estimated to be more than double, and in some cases more than ten times higher than the initial allocation.

Information and identifiers

Discussion Paper 249. June 2026. Brussels. PDF. 42pp. Tab. Graph. Bibliogr. Free.

KC-01-26-049-EN-N (online)

ISBN 978-92-68-40195-8 (online)  

ISSN 2443-8022 (online)

doi:10.2765/7406563 (online) 

JEL classification: C82, E61, E62, F15, F17, F41, F42, F62, O33, O38.

Disclaimer

European Economy Discussion Papers are written by the staff of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, or by experts working in association with them, to inform discussion on economic policy and to stimulate debate. The views expressed in this document are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of the European Commission.