Managing the Recovery and Resilience Facility: National Stereotypes and Economic Governance in the European Commission

European Union (EU) economic governance has long been plagued by national stereotypes. During the euro crisis and the pandemic, political and media rhetoric often portrayed Northern member states as “hardworking,” “prudent,” and “frugal,” while depicting Southern countries as “lazy,” “beggars,” and “incompetent” (Capelos & Exadaktylos, 2015; Matthijs & McNamara, 2015). Do such depictions remain relevant for officials implementing the EU's economic governance framework today? This paper argues that these reputational dynamics persist under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), particularly given the Commission’s enhanced discretion under its performance-based approach (Bokhorst & Corti, 2024). Drawing on insights from EU economic governance, comparative public administration, and sociological institutionalism (Delreux, 2024; Dijksterhuis & Aarts, 2010; Painter & Peters, 2010; Jugl, 2025; Zeitlin et al., 2025), the study maps national stereotypes circulating within the Commission and examines how officials navigate them in daily work. Methodologically, it relies on an innovative workshop with 48 Commission officials from the Recovery and Resilience Taskforce and compares five member states (Germany, Italy, Romania, Slovakia, and Sweden). The findings show that each member state is perceived differently, shaped by country-specific factors (RRF size, administrative traditions, and the level of politicization) as well as interaction patterns. Accordingly, Commission staff adapt their behavior in interactions with national authorities to align with each national context. Overall, the findings suggest that the RRF's innovative design has the potential to reshape the Commission's perceptions of national authorities, altering longstanding stereotypes within EU economic governance.