19/01/2023

This review provides a comparative analysis of cohesion policy funds and the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).

The two instruments have considerable similarities, but also differ in many respects. The cohesion policy is the EU’s main long-term investment policyto promote economic, social and territorial development, while the RRF is an ad hoc, temporary ‘crisis response’ tool. It aims to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the EU economy and to enhance the resilience of the EU and its Member States against future shocks.

Both the 2021-2027 cohesion policy funds and the RRF are still in their early stages of implementation. In the coming years, simultaneous deployment of the two instruments will show how their different approaches ​achieve their respective objectives.