Recursos para la gestión

At the beginning of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic changed the economic, social and budgetary outlook of Spain, the European Union (EU) and the world. This required, and still requires, a coordinated national and EU response to address the impact of the pandemic. All countries have been affected by the pandemic and the restrictive measures taken to control it. However, the economic impact has been uneven, complicating the process of convergence and cohesion in the European Union.

Member States’ ability to cope with the pandemic’s economic consequences will depend on their budgetary room for manoeuvre to take measures to minimise the social, economic and health impact of the crisis .

As an innovative tool to provide direct financial support to Member States to intensify sustainable reforms and public investment, the European institutions created the Resilience and Recovery Facility (RRF). The overall resilience of the European Union should be enhanced by these reforms and investments.

The six pillars on which the process of recovering and building resilience is based are as follows:

• Green Transition
• Digital Transformation.
• Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive Growth.
• Social and Territorial Cohesion
• Health, Economic, Social and Institutional Resilience
• Policies for the Next Generation, Children and Youth/li>

The RRF Regulation required Member States to submit a recovery and resilience plan to receive a financial contribution. On 29 April 2021, the Spanish government presented its Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (RTRP). The RTRP was rated very positively by the European Commission services. It received the highest score in ten of the eleven variables analysed. The ministers of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) approved the Spanish plan on 13 July 2021. The milestones and targets associated with the reforms and investments detailed by each Member State must be achieved in accordance with the timetable and description contained in the Council Implementing Decision (CID).

In October 2023, the Addendum to the RTRP was approved, introducing improvements and new measures because of experience gained during the first phase of the plan's implementation.

A wide range of reforms and investments are included in the RTRP. One of the main objectives of the RTRP is to strengthen the resilience of SMEs by promoting an economic recovery that leaves no-one behind and improves the green and digital transition of our country. The same applies to the bodies of the General State Administration, the Autonomous Communities and the local authorities, as well as any other public bodies that will also manage the RTRP, favouring co-governance, the channelling of the funds they will receive and the milestones and CID objectives (PDF) that each participant must meet in an appropriate manner.

The milestones and targets in the RTRP must be linked to actions, i.e. reforms and investments, which must be in place between February 2020 and August 2026.

The RRF is designed as a results-based financing instrument. The milestones and targets set in the plan are binding and involve all participating public administrations.

Those responsible for complying with them are all those involved, from ministries, Autonomous Communities, local authorities and public sector bodies (whether state, autonomous or local); private sector beneficiaries, such as contractors, subcontractors, beneficiaries and other final beneficiaries.   

The RTRP’s good management depends first and foremost on an adequate management and monitoring system, which develops strategies and instruments to ensure its real impact. . 

The management of the RRF funds corresponds to the public administrations, which must therefore have a global vision of the projects in which the various measures are specified (the RTRP contains a total of 595 milestones and CID objectives). In this way, the management and monitoring system incorporates the various projects that concretise the objectives included in the RTRP and allows the monitoring of the quantities reflected in the defined indicators (in indicator units such as: number of projects, kilometres, hectares, actions, etc.), which will be required of those involved in the management of the RRF.

The management and monitoring system aims to define, plan, implement, monitor and control the projects and sub-projects into which the measures (reforms or investments) foreseen in the components of the RTRP are broken down, as a basic tool for making the milestones and objectives defined in theCID (pdf)effective. To achieve this, an information system will be set up, supported by a computer application called CoFFEE-MRR, which will channel the flow of information between the various actors involved in managing the plan and facilitate compliance with the applicable Community and national regulations.  

Non-compliance with the RTRP by any of the entities or beneficiaries (individuals and corporate bodies) that have received funding under the RRF will result in an obligation to repay such funding. This non-compliance can mainly be due to failure to meet the agreed schedule, failure to meet the milestone orCID (pdf)to which they have committed, failure to comply with any of the principles set out in the RRF Regulations, etc:  

• contribution to climate and/or digital targets (according to the RTRP, Spain commits to 39.9% and 25.9% of green and digital tagging respectively).
• Principle of do no significant harm to the environment.
• not to engage in fraud, corruption or conflicts of interest, and to have mechanisms in place to prevent, detect and correct them.
• not to incur double financing.
• full compliance with the rules governing State Financial Help.

Royal Decree 682/2021 of 3 August, which develops the basic organisational structure of the Ministry of Finance and the Civil Service and amends Royal Decree 139/2020 of 28 January, which establishes the basic organisational structure of ministerial departments,specifically establishes the General Secretariat for European Funds as the authority responsible for the RRF before the European institutions. Among other things, this article refers to coordination functions, as a contact point for the European Commission, and in terms of monitoring progress against the milestones and objectives of the plan.  

The RTRP states that the General Secretariat for the European Funds, in its capacity as Responsible Authority, is responsible for monitoring and integrating the management information and results produced by the bodies responsible for each component.

Article 20 of Royal Decree-Law 36/2020, of 30 December, approving urgent measures for the modernisation of public administration and the implementation of the RTRP, states that the General Secretariat for European Funds of the Ministry of Finance will act as the competent authority before the European institutions, in accordance with the conditions laid down in the European regulations, and will develop the powers established by law and regulation for this purpose.

Section 4.6 of the RTRP regulates Control and Audit. It is structured in the following controls:

• Internal control of the implementing body (level 1). . Scope of each body responsible for the implementation of an action. This is a primary and basic control. It is a set of rules for the prevention of fraud, corruption, conflicts of interest and double financing.
• Internal control by an independent body (level 2). Entrustment to the independent internal control bodies of the various administrations involved. They act with complete autonomy and independence. In ministries and public bodies, it is the delegated intervention (under the Ministry of Finance and Public Administration) and in public companies and business entities, their own internal control bodies that act independently of management. The role of legal services is also important in this area.
• National Ex-Post Control and Audit System . The IGAE is the supervisory authority of the RRF. It exercises its functions in complete independence. An audit strategy shall be approved and updated at least annually. The methodology of the IGAE audits will be based on that of the Structural Funds, with the main difference being the emphasis on verifying compliance with milestones and objectives. To ensure that the work to be carried out is carried out properly, the Supervisory Authority coordinates the activities of the Autonomous Communities.
• Audits of payment claims submitted to the Commission. . They assure the Commission of having achieved the relevant milestones and objectives.
• Audits on the existence of adequate measures for the prevention, detection and correction of fraud, corruption and conflicts of interest.  Audits on the existence of adequate measures for the prevention, detection and correction of fraud, corruption and conflicts of interest.

• the absence of a management authority.
• The absence of specific reporting templates, sampling guidelines or audit summary documents for the audit authority to submit.
• The lack of a defined scope to be covered by audits..
• the absence of financial corrections imposed for non-compliance with the principle of legality.
• the absence of an annual statement of accounts on presentation of certificates or the possibility of reliance on national control systems.

• The IGAE will carry out these audits. The results of these audits are included in the audit summary (Article 22(2)(c)(ii) of Regulation (EU) 2021/241 of 12 February 2021 establishing the Recovery and Resilience Facility).  
• Checking for double funding of projects/linking expenditure to RRF. . Be part of the audit strategy.
• National control systems for verifying the legality and regularity of expenditure. . IGAE and General Interventions of the Autonomous Communities.
• Coordination in the fight against fraud. An essential part of the model will be the National Anti-Fraud Coordination Service (SNCA). A specific complaints channel will be set up. The SNCA exercises its powers in complete independence.