EN – E-003041/2021
Answer given by EU Commissioner Hahn
on behalf of the European Commission (23.8.2021)
Under NextGenerationEU, the Commission borrows on behalf of the EU for investment. NextGenerationEU funds are expected to boost the EU’s Gross Domestic Product growth, with estimates ranging from 1-4%, and support the creation of 2 million jobs. This expected growth will spur consumer demand and create even more business opportunities. This should help repay the borrowing and neutralise any increased indebtedness.
NextGenerationEU is a one-off, strictly time-limited instrument. The Own Resources Decision1 sets the maximum amount of what the Commission is empowered to borrow on capital markets and lays down that new net borrowing activity should stop at the latest at the end of 2026. The financing raised by the EU will be repaid by Member States either directly (for loans) or through the EU budget (for the non-repayable support) by December 2058 at the latest.
An important component of the NextGenerationEU architecture is Regulation (EU) No 2020/20942, which is based on Article 122 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). This legal basis can only be used in a situation of exceptional crisis for measures to be taken in a spirit of solidarity between Member States. Its use is limited by this purpose and in no way affects the application of Article 125 TFEU.
As already referred to in its reply to written question E-001408/2021, the Commission is convinced about the legal soundness of NextGenerationEU.
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1 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec/2020/2053
2 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32020R2094
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