The effects of marginalising Regions from the design of National Recovery and Resilience Plans on the implementation phase: the cases of Italy and Spain compared

The Recovery and Resilience Facility, launched in 2021, has been a breakthrough in the EU’s economic policy as part of the Next Generation EU, a plan to overcome the crisis that followed the COVID-19 pandemic. Regardless of its relevance in EU politics due to its significance as a shift from austerity towards solidarity in front of economic crisis and the doubling of the EU’s budget, the RRF is having an impact on the existing relationship between the EU, its Member States and the Regions within them. Previous research has shown, in fact, that the design and the execution of the RRF have seen a re-centralisation of the governance over EU funds. This inverted the decades-old trend of regionalisation and Multi-level Governance. Against this background, this dissertation investigates the point of view of Regions regarding this shift from Multi-level Governance towards a re-centralisation of EU policies, to understand the consequences of this decision. The research focuses on two case studies: Italy and Spain. They are among the main recipients of the RRF and have a similar territorial articulation. Based on analysis of primary and secondary sources, and interviews with regional representatives in the two countries, the research highlights a series of common concerns across the two countries but also useful lessons for the future of EU cohesion policy. On the whole, the RRF is confirmed as a game changer. Its implementation should be closely monitored in the next few years, to ensure that any good practices are kept and any potential weaknesses addressed.