Finansieringen av stödet till Ukraina, den gröna och digitala omställningen samt EU:s svar på IRA

 

The EU’s financial resources are stretched to the limit. Higher post-pandemic inflation has driven up interest rates, thereby making the EU’s debt incurred in relation to the Next Generation EU initiative much more expensive than lawmakers had originally planned for. Moreover, the severe humanitarian crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine has been accompanied by heavy financial costs for the Union, to fund inter alia the ongoing war, reconstruction and keeping critical infrastructure in working order. A third call on the common purse is the desire to counteract the consequences of the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). In sum, the EU’s coffers need to be replenished.

In June 2023 the European Commission launched two sets of proposals; the first on the EU budget mid-term review, and the second on how to fund the budget in the future. As part of the agreement in the European Council in 2020 to establish the Next Generation EU – in particular the €750 billion Recovery and Resilience Facility – servicing the debt was to be aided by new own resources.

At this webinar, experts on EU budgetary policy analysed these proposals and discussed their respective merits and flaws.