The video conference of economy and finance ministers will start at 10.00. It will be chaired by Slovenia’s Minister for Finance, Andrej Šircelj.
Ministers will focus on the economic recovery. They will take stock of the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility. Ministers will exchange views on the proposed Council implementing decisions on the national recovery and resilience plans for Estonia, Finland and Romania with a view to their subsequent adoption by written procedure.
Press conference:
- After the Economic and Financial Affairs Council VTC
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Meeting page – informal video conference of economy and finance ministers, 28 October 2021
Video coverage in broadcast quality (MPEG4) and photo gallery on: www.eucouncil.tv
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1 This note has been drawn up under the responsibility of the Press Office.
Implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility
Ministers will take stock of the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).
They will discuss the proposed Council implementing decisions (CIDs) on the recovery and resilience plans (RRPs) for Estonia, Finland and Romania with a view to their subsequent adoption by written procedure.
All member states except the Netherlands have submitted their RRPs. The decisions on plans for Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain were adopted at the Ecofin Council of 13 July. CIDs for Croatia, Cyprus, Lithuania and Slovenia were adopted on 28 July. On 8 September the Council adopted the decisions on Czechia’s and Ireland’s plans and on 5 October on Malta’s plan.
The procedure is that, once a plan has been submitted, the Commission has up to two months to assess it, unless a postponement is agreed with the member state involved. A positive assessment is followed by proposals for CIDs, which the Council should, as a rule, adopt within four weeks.
Following adoption of the CIDs, the Commission can sign grant and loan agreements with the member states, commit resources and proceed with the disbursement of the pre-financing (when requested, for the amount of up to 13% of total grants and loans). The payments are to be executed, to the extent possible, within two months.
By 26 October, the following countries had received their requested pre-financing: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. The total amount disbursed so far is around €52.4 billion.
The Commission uses resources collected on the financial markets. So far, five syndicated bond issuances have taken place, including the first ever EU green bond issuance. In September the Commission also started auctions of EU-Bonds and EU-Bills, collecting additional funds to finance the Next Generation EU (NGEU) instrument.
The national RRPs set out member states’ reform and investment agendas up to 2026. The plans also address the country-specific recommendations identified in the course of the 2019 and 2020 European Semester discussions.
The adoption of the plans is a precondition for member states’ use of the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the central part of the NGEU. The facility makes available €672.5 billion (in 2018 prices) to foster economic recovery from the COVID-19 fallout – €312.5 billion as non-repayable support (grants) and €360 billion in loans.
As provided in the RRF regulation, the investments and reforms of the facility focus on:
- green transition
- digital transformation
- smart, sustainable and inclusive growth
- social and territorial cohesion
- health and economic, social and institutional resilience
- policies for the next generation
At least 37% of expenditure should be dedicated to climate and at least 20% to digital targets. Council gives go-ahead to Malta’s recovery plan (press release, 5 October 2021)
Recovery fund: ministers welcome assessment of Czechia’s and Ireland’s plans (press release, 6 September)
Infographic – Recovery fund: the EU delivers
The Recovery and Resilience Facility (European Commission) The EU as a borrower – investor relations (European Commission) Structure of the auctioning programme (European Commission)