The Commission issued today a positive preliminary assessment of France's payment request for €3.26 billion under NextGenerationEU , the centrepiece of Europe's recovery efforts to build a greener, more digital and competitive Union.
This amount represents the fourth instalment in France's recovery and resilience plan.
The Commission's preliminary assessment finds that France has fulfilled the milestones and targets required for this payment, financed under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the key instrument of NextGenerationEU.
It follows the implementation of eleven investments in several areas including investments in enhancing energy efficiency in public buildings, advancing sustainable transport infrastructure to improve daily mobility, the digitalisation of businesses, cultural sectors, schools, and the health sector,; and two reforms to tackle greenhouse gas emissions in cities, and to improve the quality assessment of public spending .
Flagship measures in this payment request include:
- Expanding digital training access for higher education: More than 1 700 000 students enrolled in higher education in France have access to digital training capacities.
- Enhancing energy efficiency in public buildings: This investment is enhancing the energy performance of public buildings, with the renovation of an additional 8.75 million square meters in public buildings for enhanced energy efficiency, and the completion of energy renovation works for more than 680 schools.
Next steps
The Commission has sent its preliminary assessment to the Economic and Financial Committee , which has four weeks to deliver its opinion. Following a positive opinion, the Commission will adopt a payment decision enabling the €3.26 billion disbursement to France.
Background
France's Recovery and Resilience Plan set out wide-ranging investments and reforms aimed at making their economies and societies more sustainable, resilient, and prepared for the green and digital transitions. Under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, €40.3 billion has been allocated to support its implementation.
As part of this process, France submitted its fourth payment request on 21 January 2025, based on the implementation of 17 milestones and targets, set out in their plan.
Once this payment is completed, the total funds disbursed to France under the Recovery and Resilience Facility will reach €34.13 billion, covering 82% of all milestones and targets in the plan.
- You can explore an interactive map of RRF-financed reforms and investments to see how they are being deployed locally.
- Open data on the RRF can be accessed on the Recovery and Resilience Scoreboard , which tracks its implementation and progress.
- The text of the Commission's preliminary assessment offers details on the milestones and targets preliminarily assessed as satisfactorily fulfilled.
- The Recovery and Resilience Facility Regulation sets out the framework and objectives of the RRF.
