The recovery and resilience facility: have social actors been sidelined?

Abstract

Key points

The roles of social affairs players in EU’s economic governance cannot be taken for granted. Launched by the European Council in July 2020, the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) was closely linked to the European Semester structures and procedures. Some of its key features, including stakeholder consultation, were put on hold to ensure speedy action.

Social actors geared up to seize their place in this evolving governance architecture: they moved back to adopting Semester practices, staying in position, ready to jump at the first opportunity. EU level officials have shown themselves receptive to social issues and the views of social actors. The online meeting culture of 2020-2021 further facilitated access and consultations. Enhanced EU level consultation leaves key questions unanswered: does being ‘heard’ at the EU level also imply that social stakeholders’ voices have been ‘listened to’ (i.e. have had practical effects)? Has such enhanced consultation also taken place at the national level? The results of this study do not warrant a lot of optimism at this point. Although social actors are reclaiming their prominence in the process, the risk is that social actors may still be ignored in the governance of the European Semester. Therefore, systematic and transparent involvement of national and EU social stakeholders is needed, especially regarding the implementation and monitoring of the National Recovery and Resilience Plans. The inclusion of social stakeholders is a prerequisite for the success of the EU recovery.