EU heads of state and government have spent hours discussing the 750 billion euro coronavirus rescue plan in Brussels, but the deal is still a long way off. The summit is expected to continue until the weekend. (17.07.2020) The agreement was reached at the same time as an agreement on the bloc`s next seven-year budget, amounting to about 1.1 billion euros. It can be said with fug and A that the package does not betray the European Green Agreement. It is now up to the different EU countries to present national recovery plans that are really green and the European Commission to monitor them properly. In general, it is the greenest stimulus package the world has ever seen. The Eurogroup will continue to lead the euro area economy to an inclusive recovery that will benefit all citizens and work to strengthen economic and monetary union. “You needed an agreement on the stimulus fund to show that together you are able to face all the multiple consequences of this crisis. Imagine for a minute if we had not had this agreement. That would have made the situation worse. That would have created a lot of uncertainty, and we know that in times of crisis, uncertainty is a poison for economic recovery. The final compromise is a cascading version of what Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, had originally asked the heads of state and government in May. The key component of the recovery effort has been reduced to 390 billion euros, significantly less than the 500 billion euros recommended by the Commission and supported by Germany and France.

The EIB should be able to do more to finance the green transition. That is why the decision to reduce the Commission`s proposal from EUR 30.3 billion to only EUR 5.6 billion in the Council`s agreement for InvestEU is not good news, as these funds should in part encourage the EIB to increase its investments in riskier but potentially high-paying green projects. The multi-year financial framework, reinforced by the next generation of the EU, will be the main instrument for implementing the recovery plan to deal with the socio-economic consequences of the COVID 19 pandemic. It will also help transform the EU through its key policies, in particular the European Green Agreement, the digital revolution and resilience. The “Club Med” countries, Spain, Italy and Portugal, seem satisfied with the decrease in the amount of subsidies available. Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa told us: “It is true that this could have had a slightly larger dimension, but the recovery plan is robust enough to meet current estimates of the coronavirus crisis.” Recovery efforts (…) are significant, concentrated and time-limited. Important, because the effects of the crisis are considerable. Focus because it must target the regions and sectors most affected by the crisis. Time-limited, as the MFF and its rules remain the fundamental framework for the planning and implementation of the EU budget.

The EU will use the borrowed funds exclusively to deal with the consequences of the COVID 19 crisis as part of the EU`s next generation (NGEU) recovery efforts. The refund is scheduled for December 31, 2058. On 10 November 2020, the Council reached an agreement between the European Parliament and EU countries on the next long-term EU budget and the next generation of EU. This agreement will strengthen a total of EUR 15 billion in specific programmes within the framework of the long-term budget for the year 2021-2027. To find out more, the European Commission is presenting 750 billion euros for an economic recovery plan that EU heads of state and government have halved compared to the Commission`s proposal of 40 billion euros to 17.5 billion euros.