As the end of the Next Generation funds comes into sight and the Draghi Plan is born, certain questions persist: Are the national recovery plans the most opaque operation in the history of the EU? Why does the EU deny access to documents related to the management of the Next Generation funds?
What commitment to transparency does the Spanish government have in accounting for its management when it has refused to provide a copy of its recovery plan submitted in Brussels, claiming that doing so would jeopardize its economic policy?
These are questions we have been asking for nearly four years, since the EU General Court ruled in favor of the Spanish government and the Commission in a lawsuit (Judgment of the General Court of the EU of February 15, 2023, in Case T-77/22: Alonso & Associates – Asesores Comunitarios, S.L. v European Commission) filed by the consulting firm Alonso & Associates – Asesores Comunitarios S.L. This legal battle, initiated in May 2021, sought access to the recovery plan submitted by Spain for approval following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The EU General Court’s judgment of February 15, 2023, not only rejected our claims—denying both us and the general public access to Spain’s plan—but, more gravely, established an information blackout applicable to all EU countries and for the entire implementation period of the Next Generation funds, i.e., until 2026.
Despite abundant institutional propaganda (link), the European Court of Auditors has warned about the risk of double funding with the Next Generation funds (link). Regarding Spain, the European Commission requested more efforts in its latest implementation report (October 2024), noting that barely 30% of the objectives have been achieved.
With the blessing of European judges—and against their own citizen rights-protection doctrine—these documents will remain in a “black box,” allowing the governments of the EU-27 to reject any request on the grounds of potential risks to their economic policies. Never before has such a straightforward request from civil society received such a forceful, yet debatable, response.
Emiliano Alonso is CEO of Alonso & Associates.