Launched in the wake of the covid pandemic, the European recovery plan--the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF)--was intended to prepare member states for the major challenges of tomorrow. One of these challenges is digital transformation. Endowed with €724bn, the RRF has earmarked around €150bn for this objective, i.e., two-thirds of all European funds dedicated to digital investments over the period 2021-2027.
But according to , the momentum has not matched the ambitions. Whilst all member states have complied with the obligation to devote at least 20% of their plans to the digital transition, “the process lacked strategic focus,” said the ECA member in charge of the audit Ildikó Gáll-Pelcz.
The problem is that the definition of digital transition is too vague and there is no obligation to target the priority needs identified, in particular via the DESI (European Digital Performance Index) reports. “Investing solely in digital measures does not automatically translate into meaningful progress in the digital transition,” the report pointed out.
Luxembourg: A strong commitment with limited impact
In its sample of five countries analysed in depth, the ECA included Luxembourg alongside France, Denmark, Italy and Romania. With 30% of its RRF envelope dedicated to digital, the country ranks fourth in Europe, even though the absolute amount remains the lowest (€20m)--logical, given its size.
But the report highlights an important limitation: Luxembourg already relies heavily on its own resources to finance its digital projects, which limits the leverage effect of European aid. In other words, the RRF has not made up for the weaknesses identified in the country’s digital performance.
In addition, almost half of the planned digital milestones are behind schedule. This is particularly true of the LuxQCI project, which aims to develop a secure quantum communications infrastructure. With a budget of €10m, it alone accounts for 41% of the digital component of the national plan.
Whilst the initial phase (creation of the laboratory, terrestrial trials) has been completed, cross-border and satellite connections are behind schedule. The launch of the latter will not take place until the end of 2025 or the first half of 2026 due to a series of design delays. “As the satellite needs to be tested for six months after launch in order to become operational, this means that completing the measure may not be feasible by the end of the RRF implementation period [31 December 2026, editor’s note],” the report stated.
Another partially delayed project: the digitisation of public services. Two of the three components (new online services, Myguichet.lu mobile application) are operational. But the dematerialisation of appointments with government departments, including via videoconferencing, has also progressed more slowly than expected.
European momentum stalled
Luxembourg is not an isolated case. At EU level, less than one-third of the milestones and targets (31%) were achieved at the halfway point of the RRF implementation period, six percentage points less than expected. In the five countries analysed, almost half of the targets are late, and some have even been modified or replaced.
More generally, cooperation between member states remains timid: barely 60 multi-country digital projects have been launched--representing just 3.3% of the funds dedicated to the digital transformation--out of more than 1,000 measures identified. These figures reflect the difficulty of combining complex projects with short deadlines.
The auditors’ final complaint is that the evaluation of the RRF’s impact remains inadequate. The performance indicators are judged to be too general, poorly aligned with the EU’s digital strategy and not very usable. In 60% of cases, member states did not use the common indicators, or provided inconsistent and imprecise data. “As a result, the RRF’s potential to serve as a transformative driver of the EU’s digital transition may not be fully realised,” the auditors concluded.
This article was originally published in .