Experts warn at the UMU that the EU can claim the reimbursement of ‘Next Generation’ funds if it detects fraud

The philosophy of the ‘Next Generation’ Funds guides them mainly towards achieving objectives, so this must be the aspect in which European money managers put the greatest effort, without forgetting, of course, that the European Commission requires that its use is always based on anti-fraud policies, control of conflicts of interest and integrity plans. This was announced this Friday in Murcia by the head of the Monitoring Unit of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan of the Cabinet of the Presidency of the Government of Spain, Santiago Fernández, and the professor of Political Science and Administration at the Rey Juan Carlos University , Manuel Villoria, expert in public and administrative ethics. They did so during their speeches at the seminar ‘The management of Next Generation funds’ held at the University of Murcia (UMU), a meeting that had more than 80 attendees related to the processing of aid in the Region of Murcia, including , staff from the university, the Community and town halls.

The conference also included the participation of Miguel González Suela, undersecretary of the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, and the professor of Political Science and co-director of the Chair of Good Governance and Public Integrity of the UMU, Fernando Jiménez, who served as moderator.

Manuel Villoria recalled that in the case of not complying with the ethical and anti-fraud requirements, the European Commission can claim that these funds be reinstated.

UMU professor Fernando Jiménez recalled that this European item constitutes a non-refundable contribution of 77,000 million euros to Spain and more than 80,000 in low-interest loans. “If you had to pay back part of that amount, it could be a huge problem,” he warned.

The seminar also addressed issues such as the differences with other European aid such as the Feder, or the limit on investments implied by the DNSH principle (‘Do no significant harm’, that is, not causing significant damage), which excludes those projects that may harm the environment.

The head of the Recovery Plan Monitoring Unit, Santiago Fernández, underlined the importance that the European Commission gives to the fulfillment of some of the major objectives set out in the plan, such as promoting the ecological transition, the digital one, equality of women and the fight against depopulation, having to demonstrate the achievement of items for which detailed information is requested.

The representatives of the central government detailed that, although the European Commission gives until 2026 to spend these funds, the Executive has set itself the goal of doing so in full by 2023, and they pointed out that those corresponding to 2021 have already been executed at 90% while those of 2022 are at 70%. They also explained to the attendees that another of the critical criteria in the EU when it comes to rejecting projects is the duplication of funds, that is to say, that they are actions that have been covered in part with an item of Feder funds or another type of European aid, and that they go to the ‘Next Generation’ for their continuation.