BUDGET - The first “EU” funding plan and issuance calendar: January to end-June 2023

On December 19th, the European Commission released the first EU funding plan under the new unified funding approach. This funding plan covers the first half of 2023. Under the new approach, the Commission will issue single branded EU-Bonds instead of separate bonds related to the different policies they are financing. This will avoid the fragmentation of EU issuances and support a more homogenous secondary market for EU-Bonds.

date: 19/12/2022

The Commission intends to issue up to €80bn in EU-Bonds between January and end-June 2022, complemented by short-term EU-Bills. The funds will be used to finance the NextGenerationEU recovery programme (around €70 bn) and provide support to Ukraine via the MFA+ programme (around €10 bn).

RepowerEU, the EU plan to strengthen the resilience of EU energy supply through take-up of RRF loans, will not require financing through bond issuance in H1 2023. Subject to adoption of this programme, requests for funding will need to be examined and approved in spring 2023, giving rise to funding needs only in H2 2023.[1]

The Commission plans to raise funds using both conventional and NextGenerationEU Green Bonds. As in 2022, the Commission will issue new benchmark bonds and increase the outstanding volume of existing bonds across the EU curve (from 3 to 30 years), while also providing further regular supply of NextGenerationEU Green Bonds, as conditions allow.

NGEU Green Bonds will continue to be issued as a distinct issuance line so that investors can remain assured that bond proceeds are over time matched to eligible Green Bond expenditures in accordance with the NGEU Green Bond framework.

To execute its transactions, the Commission will continue to use both syndications and auctions. To achieve greater liquidity of its bonds, the Commission will make greater use of auctions. The increased number of funding transactions will sometimes lead to two syndications and/or two EU-Bond auctions per month. In line with the Commission’s commitment to open and transparent communication to markets, information about our issuance windows is available below.

Further issuances under existing MFA programmes of much smaller scale are also possible. Information about them will be provided separately.

Issuance weeks for EU-Bonds

The Commission has planned seven syndicated transactions and eight EU-Bond auctions between January and June 2023.

Issuance weeks for EU-Bills

The Commission will continue to execute EU-Bill auctions twice per month. As previously, EU-Bill auctions will take place on the first and third Wednesday of the month.

The Commission will continue to issue EU-Bills using 3-month and 6-month tenors.

New 6-month lines will be issued during the first auction of the month, while the second auction of the month will be used to tap already outstanding issuances. The Commission will continue to issue in the 3-month maturity only by tapping old 6-month lines that are now 3-months from maturity.

*The calendar information is indicative and transactions might be cancelled or additional transactions may be executed.

[1] Under RepowerEU Member States requests will be on the basis of the remaining RRF loans (currently €225 billion) rather than additional amounts.