Payment from the Recovery and Resilience Plan works on a different principle than classic EU funds. The member state does not submit documentation of expenditure incurred to the European Commission, but instead demonstrates that it has met the agreed milestones and targets. The Commission assesses fulfilment and only then releases the corresponding portion of the funds. This performance-based principle is called results-based payment, and it means that failure to meet a single milestone can suspend the entire payment, including measures that are proceeding without problems. At national level, funds are paid out to recipients according to the implementation system's own rules, that is, in advance or by reimbursement. The recipient therefore works with two layers of deadlines at once – their own contract and the overarching milestone schedule, which they cannot influence. A sensible approach is therefore to allow a time buffer and not to rely on a delay on the state's side automatically shifting the deadlines stated in the contract.
See also: Payment claim, Implementation system for the Recovery and Resilience Plan.
