After decades of liberalisation and retreat of the state, current crisis responses show a great role of the expenditure state. At the national level, COVID-19 has been fought with massive market intervention, procurement of medical equipment, and large-scale short-term working schemes. The EU has also increased its financial powers with the Recovery Fund and Next Generation EU. These new funds, with other EU off-budget funds and the regular budget, make up the EU's financial resources. Understanding if and how these resources are used is relevant as (re)distribution has increased and is here to stay. With this aim, this project focuses on the process that lies between negotiating resources in Brussels and their decentralised implementation in member states. How does the EU spend its money?