The role of European investment: national learnings in the Spanish case

  • Borja Gambau Suelves Afi, Analistas Financieros Internacionales RedEv, Red por las buenas prácticas en evaluación, Spain
  • Carmen López Herrera Afi, Analistas Financieros Internacionales RedEv, Red por las buenas prácticas en evaluación, Spain
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18543/ced.3633
Keywords: cohesion policy, Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), public financial instruments, public policy evaluation

Abstract

EU investments have played a decisive role in Spain’s economic modernisation since accession, yet their effective contribution to territorial convergence, productive transformation and potential growth remains contested. This article provides an institutional and empirical analysis of the trajectory of EU-funded investment in Spain, contrasting the redistributive logic of Cohesion Policy with the strategic, conditional approach embedded in the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). Drawing on territorial evidence on regional execution and an analysis of the institutional architecture deployed across recent budgetary cycles, the paper identifies two national lessons from Spain’s recent European experience. The first is the development of a sophisticated ecosystem of public repayable financial instruments, accelerated by the NGEU cycle, which has partially shifted the intervention model from grants towards the structured mobilisation of private capital. The second is the growing centrality of public policy evaluation within investment governance, driven both by the evolution of Cohesion Policy and by the conditionality attached to Spain’s Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (RTRP), and its effects on the institutionalisation of evaluation in Spain. The article argues that the coexistence of a territorial convergence logic with a strategic transformation logic has generated institutional tensions that must be addressed in the design of the 2028–2034 Multiannual Financial Framework. The key question is not only how much will be invested, but under which institutional architecture, with which financial instruments, and with which evaluation system EU investment will be governed to ensure real additionality, productive transformation and evidence-based legitimacy.

Received: 4 May 2026
Accepted: 22 June 2026

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Author Biographies

Borja Gambau Suelves, Afi, Analistas Financieros Internacionales RedEv, Red por las buenas prácticas en evaluación, Spain

PhD in Economics and Business from UNED and Nebrija University, Master’s Degree in Economic Research with Extraordinary Award and Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the University of Zaragoza. He has more than ten years of experience in public policy evaluation and economic analysis of public intervention, having developed his career in institutions such as the Instituto de Crédito Oficial, the Spanish Institute for Fiscal Studies, Complutense University of Madrid and Rey Juan Carlos University. He is currently Senior Consultant in Public Finance at Afi. His work focuses on quantitative analysis applied to the design, monitoring and evaluation of public policies, with particular expertise in microsimulation techniques, counterfactual impact evaluation, redistributive analysis of tax reforms, and the design of tax incentives and repayable public financial instruments. He combines his professional activity with teaching at Afi Global Education and academic work related to public policy evaluation. He is a member of RedEV and the Spanish Evaluation Society, and founding member and Academic Secretary of the Journal of Policy Evaluation (JPVAL).

Carmen López Herrera, Afi, Analistas Financieros Internacionales RedEv, Red por las buenas prácticas en evaluación, Spain

Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the University of Extremadura (UEx). Master’s Degree in Banking and Finance from Afi Global Education. PhD candidate in Public Economics at the University of Extremadura. She has developed her career with a focus on public financial management, working across different stages of the public policy cycle, including budget formulation, public policy design, public budget analysis, medium-term budget planning, revenue and expenditure optimization, debt management, fiscal rules, and ex ante and ex post policy evaluation. She carries out these activities both in Spain and in other European countries, as well as in Latin America and Africa. She combines this professional activity with academia by teaching at Afi Global Education and serving as Editor of the Journal of Policy Evaluation (JPVAL). She is also a regular contributor to economic publications.

Published
2026-10-27
How to Cite
Gambau Suelves, Borja, and Carmen López Herrera. 2026. “The Role of European Investment: National Learnings in the Spanish Case”. Deusto Journal of European Studies, no. 75 (October), 71-106. https://doi.org/10.18543/ced.3633.
Issue
No. 75 (2026): European Union investments and the Rule of Law
Section
Articles
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