Economic and Financial Affairs

This is the first preliminary assessment of a payment request from a Member State approved by the Commission, and marks an important landmark in the implementation of the Facility. On 11 November 2021, Spain submitted a payment request to the Commission based on the achievement of the 52 milestones selected in the Council Implementing Decision for the first instalment. The milestones cover reforms in the areas of sustainable mobility, energy efficiency, decarbonisation, connectivity, public administration, skills, education and social, research and development, labour and fiscal policy, as well as Spain's audit and control system for the implementation of the RRF. The Spanish recovery and resilience plan includes a wide range of investment and reform measures in thirty thematic components. It is worth €69.5 billion in grants, 13% of which (€9 billion) was disbursed to Spain in pre-financing on 17 August 2021.

They also exchanged views on a proposal presented by the Commission for the recommendation on the economic policy of the euro area for 2022 and reviewed the economic and fiscal situation of the euro area Member States. The review was based on Commission opinions on the draft budgetary plans (DBPs) of the 19 euro area member states and on the Commission communication on its overall assessment of the DBPs, published on 24 November 2021. The Eurogroup also discussed the twelfth enhanced surveillance report on Greece, agreeing that the necessary conditions were in place to release the sixth tranche of policy-contingent debt measures. The Commission and the ECB briefed the Eurogroup on the main findings of the post-programme surveillance reports on Cyprus, Portugal, Ireland and Spain, and the Eurogroup adopted the work programme for the first half of next year, covering the period from January until June.

The Council also took note of the Presidency progress report on the anti-money-laundering and countering the financing of terrorism legislative package, which was extended to cover certain crypto-assets. The Presidency informed ministers on the state of play of the digital finance package and Ministers took stock of the progress in strengthening of the Banking Union. They also exchanged views on legislative proposals for the Capital Markets Union, reviewed implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility and discussed the European Semester 2022. The Chair of the European Fiscal Board (EFB) presented the EFB's 2021 annual report on recent fiscal policy developments in the EU. Ministers also agreed to add a statement to the Council minutes regarding the increase of the European Parliament’s staff in the EU general budget for 2022. In addition, they noted the report on taxation issues presented to the European Council on 1 December and of the presidency report on the progress reached with the Fit for 55 proposals. Lastly, Ministers supported Nadia Calviño, Deputy Prime Minister of Spain, as the new EU candidate for the position of Chair of the IMF's International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC).

The pre-financing payment made on 2 December will help to kick-start the implementation of the investment and reform measures outlined in Romania's recovery and resilience plan. The country is set to receive €29.2 billion in total, consisting of €14.2 billion in grants and €14.9 billion in loans, over the lifetime of its plan. This disbursement follows the recent successful implementation of the first borrowing operations under NextGenerationEU. By the end of the year, the Commission intends to raise up to a total of €80 billion in long-term funding, complemented by short-term EU-Bills, to fund the first planned disbursements to Member States under NextGenerationEU. The RRF is at the heart of NextGenerationEU which will provide €800 billion (in current prices) to support investments and reforms across Member States. The Romanian plan is part of the unprecedented EU response to emerge stronger from the COVID-19 crisis, fostering the green and digital transitions and strengthening resilience and cohesion in our societies.

France's overall recovery and resilience plan amounts to €39.4 billion, exclusively in the form of subsidies. Payments under the RRF are contingent upon France making the investments and reforms described in its recovery and resilience plan. This first payment is conditional on the achievement of 38 milestones and targets. The Commission now has two months to make its assessment. It will then send the Council's Economic and Financial Committee its preliminary assessment of France's compliance with the milestones and targets required for this payment.

A majority of respondents (78%) across the euro area believe the euro is good for the EU. Furthermore, 69% of them consider the euro positive for their own country. These results indicate the second highest support for the euro since the start of the annual surveys in 2002. This Eurobarometer survey was conducted among some 17,600 respondents from the 19 euro area Member States, between 25 October and 9 November 2021. The results also show strong support for the European instrument for temporary support to mitigate unemployment risks in an emergency (SURE), with 82% of the respondents agreeing on the relevance of providing loans to help Member States keep people in employment. Likewise, financial support provided by the Recovery and Resilience Facility was positively perceived by 77% of the respondents. Finally, 65% of respondents were in favour of the abolition of one and two-cent coins through mandatory rounding of the final sum on purchases to the nearest five cents.

The new rules define common indicators for Member States to report on the overall performance of their recovery and resilience plans. A new recovery and resilience scoreboard will also go live before the end of the year, to show progress with the implementation of the national recovery and resilience plans in a transparent manner. The new rules also lay down the methodology to be used by the European Commission to report on Member States' social expenditure for the reforms and investments included in their recovery and resilience plans. This reporting will notably include policy measures related to employment and skills, education and childcare, health and long-term care and social policies. Each social measure that includes a focus on children and youth, and/or gender equality, will also be specifically highlighted as part of the scoreboard. The new guidelines were drafted in close consultation with Member States and the European Parliament.

This is part of the preparatory steps for Croatia to join the euro area. The document was signed at the margins of the Eurogroup meeting by Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice-President of the Commission, Paolo Gentiloni, Commissioner for Economy, and Zdravko Marić, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Croatia. The Partnership Agreement is a political commitment from the Commission to support the organisation of information and communication campaigns on the changeover to the euro in Croatia planned for 1 January 2023, provided that the country fulfils all the convergence criteria. It is the basis for the preparation and signature of a Grant Agreement, which will allow the Commission to co-finance communication activities on the euro changeover in Croatia.