Renovate2Recover: How transformational are the National Recovery Plans for Buildings Renovation?

This Study assesses the buildings-related elements of the NRRPs in 18 Member States: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. The aim is to understand whether NRRPs position countries to achieve longer-term targets for more and deeper renovation, and whether NRRPs have the potential to be ‘transformational’ on the path to achieving national goals set out in the Long Term Renovation Strategies and EU goals set out in the Renovation Wave strategy. The Study was developed by E3G, bringing its experience of working on the Green Recovery Tracker, and was delivered in close cooperation with Renovate Europe’s National Partners and Campaign Office.

Renovate Europe’s National Partners have made substantial and crucial contributions to the content and value of this Study. They are perfectly positioned with their understanding of the national context and contacts with national governments to contribute to the assessment of the NRRPs, and, crucially, to act on the opportunities that are identified in each Country Profile to improve and support the implementation of NRRPs across the EU.

Each Country Profile is accompanied by an annex that sets out, in more detail, the various programmes and reforms that each Member State includes in its NRRP. Where possible, the funding allocation for each programme is also included. The content of these annexes is drawn from an analysis of the European Commission’s assessment of the NRRPs and the EU Council’s Implementing Decision for each NRRP.

National Recovery and Resilience Plans (NRRPs) present a unique opportunity to accelerate the delivery of deep renovation across the EU. The analysis of the NRRPs in this Study demonstrates that significant renovation activity is planned and will be made possible through the successive disbursements of the Recovery Funding. But these renovations must be done properly, and the money must be spent well. This unprecedented additional injection of public funds must set the EU building stock firmly on the path to achieving its Renovation Wave goals to 2030 and meeting the 2050 climate targets.

For NRRPs to be transformational towards achieving these goals, two key aspects need to be strengthened:

1. Ensure funding delivers a step change towards realising deep (or staged deep) renovations, going well beyond the 30% minimum energy saving recommendation set by the European Commission.
2. Invest in the right enabling framework, including leverage of private finance, to create sustainable renovation markets that will grow beyond 2026.

The NRRPs allocate significant investment to energy renovation with the potential to accelerate the transition of the building stock in the EU. However, Member States have only respected bare minimum efforts (especially on depth of renovation), which jeopardises the possibilities for the building to meaningfully contribute to achieving climate neutrality goals.

The plans were developed at speed in response to immediate economic pressures and the implementation period now offers an ideal opportunity to act to enhance the rapid delivery of programmes and measures to ensure that the full potential of the NRRPs is realised. Doing so holds the potential to put the EU on track to meet its 2050 climate-neutral objectives.

These Recommendations relate to suggested improvements that Member states can introduce across the five assessment criteria for all 18 NRRPs analysed. Individual recommendations tailored to each Member State can also be found in each of the NRRP Country Profiles that are included in this Study.