Economic and Financial Affairs

Specifically, the Commission has assessed the plans of Cyprus, Croatia, Ireland and Czechia. This is an important step towards disbursing funds under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) to these Member States. This financing will support the implementation of the crucial investment and reform measures outlined in each Member State's recovery and resilience plan. The RRF will play an important role in enabling them to emerge stronger from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Commission assessed the plans based on the criteria set forth in the RRF Regulation. The Council will now have, as a rule, four weeks to adopt the Commission's proposals. The RRF – at the heart of NextGenerationEU – will provide up to €672.5 billion (in current prices) to support investments and reforms across the EU.

Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain got the green light for the use of EU recovery and resilience funds to boost their economies and recover from the COVID-19 fallout. The adoption of Council implementing decisions on the approval of the plans permits the Member States to sign grant and loan agreements that will allow for up to 13% pre-financing. The Council received a positive assessment for the 12 Member States’ plans from the Commission in June, accompanied by the proposals for the Council decisions on their approval. The EU financial assistance from the €672.5 billion Recovery and Resilience Facility aims to power the European economic recovery by supporting Member States’ reforms and investment projects. The measures approved in the national plans are centred around six policy areas (‘pillars’) that include the green and digital transition, smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, and social and territorial cohesion.

The discussion focused on the economic recovery as well as on banking and financial stability issues. Paschal Donohoe, the President of the Eurogroup, also briefed ministers on the June Euro summit, focusing in particular on the banking union discussions in order to prepare the work ahead. In addition, ministers discussed the budgetary situation and prospects in the euro area as a whole, focusing on prospects for 2022. The chairman of the European Fiscal Board (EFB), Niels Thygesen, was invited to the meeting and presented the EFB's recently published report. The assessment is based on a Commission analysis of the 2021 stability programmes. The discussion fed into the preparation of the draft budgetary plans and the recommendations for the euro area for 2022. Lastly, finance ministers discussed the potential implications of a digital euro for citizens, businesses and the Economic and Monetary Union as a whole. They focused on its political dimension, fully respecting the roles and mandates of all institutions involved.

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The disbursement is partly from the €3 billion emergency MFA package for ten enlargement and neighbourhood partners, which aims to help them limit the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic (COVID-19 MFA programme), and partly from Jordan's €500 million third MFA programme (MFA-III programme), which was approved in January 2020. The first €250 million disbursement to Jordan under these two MFA programmes took place in November 2020. Jordan has fulfilled the policy conditions agreed with the EU for the release of the €250 million disbursement under the COVID-19 MFA programme and the MFA-III programme. These included important measures to improve public finance management, accountability in the water sector, measures to increase labour market participation and measures to strengthen good governance. In addition, Jordan continues to satisfy the pre-conditions for the granting of MFA as regards the respect of human rights and effective democratic mechanisms. With this disbursement, the EU has successfully completed four out of the 10 MFA programmes in the €3 billion COVID-19 MFA package. The third and final tranche of the MFA-III programme to Jordan, amounting to €200 million, will follow once Jordan fulfils the agreed commitments.

Achieving these emission reductions in the next decade is crucial to Europe becoming the world's first climate-neutral continent by 2050 and making the European Green Deal a reality. With these proposals, the Commission is presenting the legislative tools to deliver on the targets agreed in the European Climate Law and to fundamentally transform the EU’s economy and society for a fair, green and prosperous future. The proposals combine: application of emissions trading to new sectors and a tightening of the existing EU Emissions Trading System; increased use of renewable energy; greater energy efficiency; a faster roll-out of low emission transport modes and the infrastructure and fuels to support them; an alignment of taxation policies with the European Green Deal objectives; measures to prevent carbon leakage; and tools to preserve and grow our natural carbon sinks. To ensure social equity, the policies in the package spread the costs of tackling and adapting to climate change, and a new Social Climate Fund would provide dedicated funding to Member States to help citizens finance investments in energy efficiency, new heating and cooling systems, and cleaner mobility.

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