Socio-technical Governance and Legitimation Processes: A Comparative Analysis of the Belgian, Italian, and Spanish National Recovery and Resilience Plans

This article investigates legitimation processes in crisis situations, focusing on the European Union’s Next Generation EU (NGEU) program and its core instrument, the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). To access RRF funds, Member States must submit National Recovery and Resilience Plans (NRRPs), which integrate social and technical components. The article conceptualizes NRRPs as socio-technical governance instruments and examines how legit- imation unfolds in Belgium, Italy, and Spain. Four distinct legitimation processes are highlighted: demonstrative (evidence-based), allusive (symbolic), functional (authority-endorsed), and repre- sentative (value-aligned), illustrating how different political systems construct legitimacy in times of crisis.