The European Network on Independent Living (ENIL) has submitted a complaint to the European Commission about the use of EU Recovery and Resilience funds in Spain and their compatibility with Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
Under the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) – the main financial instrument created in response to the COVID-19 crisis and commonly referred to as Next Generation EU – Spain is implementing a national Recovery and Resilience Plan. One of its key components (Component 22) allocates more than €2 billion to reform the long-term care system, including measures related to services for older persons and persons with disabilities.
While the Plan refers to the objective of deinstitutionalisation and the transition towards community-based models of support, publicly available information shows that substantial funding has been allocated to the construction and renovation of residential centres.
For example, in Andalusia alone, a €134 million programme financed through Next Generation EU includes €33.3 million specifically allocated to residential centres for persons with disabilities. Individual projects include new or expanded residential facilities in Almería, Granada and Jaén.
At the same time, official data show that residential care continues to dominate the Spanish long-term care system. According to the National Statistics Institute (INE), 357,894 people were living in care centres in 2023, 94.7% of whom were persons with disabilities. Meanwhile, personal assistance – a key tool for enabling independent living – represents only 0.52% of all benefits granted under the Spanish System for Autonomy and Dependency (SAAD).
In its complaint to the Commission, ENIL recalls that the European Union is bound by the CRPD and that EU funds must not finance institutional models of care. The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has explicitly called on the European Commission to ensure that EU financial instruments do not contribute to the perpetuation of institutionalisation and instead support community-based services and personal assistance.
ENIL has asked the Commission to clarify how these investments have been assessed in light of Article 19 CRPD and what monitoring mechanisms are in place to ensure compliance with EU and international human rights obligations.
We will continue to monitor the use of EU funds and advocate for investment in genuine community-based services that enable persons with disabilities to live independently and be included in the community.
ENIL would like to thank partners and activists in Spain, in particular OVI Andalucía and its representative, César Giménez, for their support in gathering publicly available data and monitoring RRF-funded projects. We encourage our members and partners across Europe to monitor the use of EU funds in their countries and to share information on investments that may undermine the transition towards community-based support. Please report these to adela.santos-lavigne@enil.eu.
