Following the unprecedented crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Germany’s recovery and resilience plan has responded to the urgent need to foster a strong recovery, while making Germany’s economy and society more resilient and future ready. In response to the energy market disruption caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Commission launched the REPowerEU Plan. The Recovery and Resilience Facility is at the heart of its implementation and its funding. Under REPowerEU, EU countries are updating their recovery and resilience plans with new measures to save energy and diversify the EU’s energy supplies
Green transition
Focusing on green technologies and capacities - sustainable mobility, energy efficiency and renewables, climate change adaptation; circular economy; and biodiversity.
Policies for the next generation
Improving access to and the quality of general, vocational, and higher education; focusing on digital education, early childhood education and care; supporting youth employment.
Smart, sustainable, inclusive growth
promoting entrepreneurship, competitiveness, industrialisation; improving the business environment; fostering research, development and innovation, supporting small- and medium-sized businesses.
Digital transformation
Promoting the roll-out of very high-capacity networks, the digitalisation of public services, government processes, and businesses, in particular SMEs; developing basic and advanced digital skills; supporting digital-related R&D and the deployment of advanced technologies.
Social and territorial cohesion
Improving social and territorial infrastructure and services, including social protection and welfare systems, the inclusion of disadvantaged groups; supporting employment and skills development; creating high-quality, stable jobs.
Health and economic, social and institutional resilience
Improving the resilience, accessibility and quality of health and long-term care, including measures to advance their digitalisation; increasing the effectiveness of public administration systems.
The map exclusively serves information purposes and is not an exhaustive database of projects supported by the Recovery and Resilience Facility. It does not reflect the distribution of the projects funded by the Recovery and Resilience Facility across the European Union, nor across different geographical areas or sectors within EU Member States. The RRF funding amounts shown for measures are based on the initial cost estimates included in the recovery and resilience plans.
Furthermore, the projects showcased are without prejudice to any future assessment by the Commission in the context of verifying the satisfactory fulfilment of milestones and targets under Regulation (EU) 2021/241 establishing the Recovery and Resilience Facility.
Country snapshot
Germany’s country snapshot
The country snapshot illustrates some of the most iconic and impactful projects included in the German Recovery and Resilience Plan that will bring positive change for EU citizens, businesses and the EU at large.
The reforms and investments in Germany’s plan approved by Council on 13 July 2021, as amended on 14 February 2023 and on 8 December 2023, are helping it to become more sustainable, resilient and better prepared for the challenges and opportunities of the green transition and digital transition.
*This value includes also the part of the plan which is financed with national resources.
- 26 investment streams and 15 reforms
- 47% of the plan will support climate objectives
- 48% of the plan will foster the digital transition.
The transformative impact of Germany’s plan is the result of a strong combination of reforms and investment which address the country’s specific challenges. The reforms address bottlenecks to lasting and sustainable growth while investment is targeted at decarbonising and digitalising all domains of German society. The plan will also strengthen social cohesion and education while unlocking Germany’s investment potential by addressing current bottlenecks.
All measures have to be implemented within a tight time frame, as the Regulation establishing the Recovery and Resilience Facility requires all milestones and targets within the national plans to be completed by August 2026.
Green transition
In the area of climate and environmental policies, Germany faces the challenge of decarbonising its industry. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions also requires that Germany makes its transport sector more sustainable and renovates its building stock, to increase its energy efficiency.
Key measures for the green transition
- The plan includes €3.3 billion devoted to decarbonising the economy, especially the industry, with a focus on renewable hydrogen
- €1.5 billion will be invested to help the German economy make the leap towards renewable hydrogen at all stages of the value chain (including production, infrastructure and use)
- €7 billion will be devoted to making the transport sector greener by supporting electric cars, clean buses and rail; the plan will provide financial support for the purchase of approximately 960 000 zero- or low-emission vehicles
- €2.5 billion will be spent on a large-scale renovation programme to increase the energy efficiency of residential buildings.
Support for the replacement of the private vehicle fleet
The measure will help citizens shift to clean electric vehicles by giving financial support to buy more than 560,000 decarbonised vehicles.
- Project locations
- Germany
Digital transition
Digital challenges for Germany include lagging investments in digital infrastructure which would support the economic recovery and help reduce Germany’s gap with other countries in the coverage of very high-capacity networks. Moreover, there is a significant potential for improving the digital skills of the population, especially when it comes to ICT and education specialists.
Key measures for the digital transition
- A Europe-wide initiative in microelectronics and communication technologies amounting to €1.5 billion
- A Europe-wide initiative on next generation cloud infrastructures and services for €750 million
- Making more than 115 federal and 100 of the most important regional public services digitally available, in line with the Online Access Act (€3 billion)
- Modernise and interconnect registers to reduce the administrative burden for businesses and citizens (€275 million)
- Create the first national online education platform to help learners acquire competences based on their individual learning pathways (€630 million).
Promoting the digitalization of rail by replacing conventional interlocking/fast-track programmes to speed up the roll-out of the ‘Digital Rail Germany’ (SLP)
The objective of the measure is to support the digitalization of railway in the context of the ‘Digital Rail Germany’ initiative and the ‘fast track’ programme to accelerate it.
- Project locations
- Germany
Economic and social resilience
Key challenges for Germany’s economy include subdued investment compared to savings due in part to regulatory investment bottlenecks. Moreover, while Germany performs well on employment, certain disadvantaged groups (including people with a migrant background) and women could be better integrated into the labour market. The education sector also faces an investment backlog in addition to new digital needs created by COVID-19
Key measures in reinforcing economic and social resilience
- A reform to cap social contributions and another to provide additional courses and mentoring to pupils with a learning backlog, with a focus on core subjects and core competences to tackle the learning disparities created by the COVID-19 crisis.
- €500 million will also be spent to create 90 000 additional childcare places by building new childcare facilities and refurbishing existing ones.
- Supporting 70 000 apprentices during the crisis.
- Public administration reforms and investment to strengthen the healthcare system amounting to €3 billion to digitalise hospitals and €814 million to modernise public healthcare offices.
- A package of reforms to unlock public investment and tackle investment bottlenecks.
Expansion of consulting services of PD - Berater der öffentlichen Hand GmbH
Germany aims to improve public investment activity, especially on the municipal level.
- Project locations
- Germany
EUROPEAN SEMESTER
Germany’s plan is consistent with the challenges and priorities identified in the European Semester, the annual cycle of coordination and monitoring of each EU country’s economic policies. For a detailed explanation of the European Semester see the following link: The European Semester explained | European Commission (europa.eu)
National recovery and resilience website
Original Recovery and Resilience Plan (July 2021)
Original Recovery and Resilience Plan (July 2021)
Documents
Commission Staff Working Document: Analysis of the recovery and resilience plan of Germany
Press Material
Press release: "European Commission endorses Germany's plan"
Factsheet: Germany’s recovery and resilience plan
Questions and answers: European Commission endorses Germany's plan
Further Information
Presentation to the Council of Germany’s recovery and resilience plan
Summary of the assessment of the German recovery and resilience plan
Updated Recovery and Resilience Plan (February 2023)
Documents
Council Implementing Decision amending the Council Implementing Decision of 13 July 2021
Press Material
Daily News: Commission approves revised recovery and resilience plan for Germany
Updated Recovery and Resilience Plan (December 2023)
Documents
Press material
Daily News 18 / 09 / 2023 (europa.eu)
Daily News: Commission endorses Germany's revised recovery and resilience plan
Pre-financing
Press release: "European Commission disburses €2.25 billion in pre-financing to Germany"
First Payment Request
Documents
Preliminary assessment of the first payment request of Germany
Press Material
Daily News 18 / 09 / 2023 (europa.eu)
Questions and Answers on Germany's disbursement request under NextGenerationEU