(28 May 2020) – To ensure the recovery is “sustainable, even, inclusive and fair” for all Member States, the European Commission has proposed to create a new recovery instrument, “Next Generation EU”, embedded within a “powerful, modern and revamped” long-term EU budget.
Next Generation EU will raise money by temporarily lifting the own resources ceiling to 2.00% of EU Gross National Income, allowing the Commission to use its strong credit rating to borrow €750 billion on the financial markets. It will include:
• A new Recovery and Resilience Facility of €560 billion will be available to all Member States but concentrated on the most affected and where resilience needs are the greatest.
• A €55 billion top-up of the current cohesion policy programmes between now and 2022 under the new REACT-EU initiative to be allocated based on the severity of the socio-economic impacts of the crisis, including the level of youth unemployment and the relative prosperity of Member States.
• A proposal to strenghten the Just Transition Fund up to €40 billion, to assist Member States in accelerating the transition towards climate neutrality.
• A €15 billion reinforcement for the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development to support rural areas in making the structural changes necessary in line with the European Green Deal and achieving the ambitious targets in line with the new biodiversity and Farm to Fork strategies.