Denmark gets top marks: the first EU country to complete its NRRP reforms

Brussels – Denmark is top of the class. Today, 30 June, the European Commission has given the go-ahead to its fifth and final payment request, worth €359 million, as part of Next Generation EU and the Recovery and Resilience Facility. “This is not just a payment, but a key milestone,” said Maciej Berestecki, spokesperson for the European Commission, during a press briefing today. With this final approval, “Denmark becomes the first Member State to complete 100 per cent of the planned reforms and investments, totalling €1.63 billion.” 

Praise came from the top. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the Commission, commended Denmark for having “kept its word.” Now, “over 250,000 zero-emission cars are on the roads and thousands of homes have switched to clean heating and greater energy efficiency,” she added. The Scandinavian country sets an example and “demonstrates that the clean transition delivers tangible results for citizens and for Europe.” 

Denmark is ahead of the August deadline and right on schedule for the formal conclusion, which falls today. This marks the start of the Plan’s final operational phase, during which local authorities and implementing bodies must complete any outstanding work and finalise the reporting required to access the final payment of European funds. The rules laid down for the “last mile” phase allow, in specific cases, for a deadline of 31 August. 

At the European level, according to
data from the Council of the EU

as of 5 May 2026—i.e. prior to today’s Danish payment, which is yet to be received—approximately €398 billion had been disbursed from the Recovery and Resilience Facility out of the total €577 billion made available in the form of loans and grants.  

Italy is still a long way from the target set in Copenhagen. On 22 May, the Commission gave the go-ahead for the ninth Italian instalment,  worth €12.8 billion, which was subsequently disbursed on 3 June. With this ninth payment, Italy has reached 85 per cent of the funds allocated under its Plan, out of a total budget of €194.4 billion comprising loans and grants. Rome has done its homework but has also requested a further review and proposed reallocating €14 billion and scrapping measures that cannot be completed by the August 2026 deadline, to wrap up the programme without leaving any resources on the table.