Next Generation EU

From mid-March 2020, all member states saw their national debt and public spending rise, mainly due to increasing expenditures on healthcare and measures to cope with the economic crisis.

[15] After a while, it became clear that the different measures implemented were not enough to fight the economic crisis caused by the pandemic; debates on how to deal with the situation led to a confrontation between northern and southern member states.

[25] The NGEU, adopted in conjunction with the 2021–2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), demonstrates that the EU member states can collectively agree on policy, along with funding, to tackle large-scale crises.

The primary objective is to help its member states repair the immediate economic and social damages caused by the coronavirus pandemic,[26] and, additionally, to prepare a better future for the next European generation.

It also aims to assist the green transition; digital transformation; smart, sustainable, and inclusive growth and jobs; social and territorial cohesion; health and resilience; and policies for the next generation, including enhancing education and skills.

[35] According to the European Council conclusions, the net borrowing operations are scheduled to end by 2026 whereas the deadline for paying back the due loans and interest rates is set not later than 31 December 2058.

[46] The subsequent debates at the council made visible the strong preference for the adoption of a plastic tax to be included in the MFF 2021–2027[47] which complements the pre-existing one, and it is deemed to be the precursor of broader reform.

[45] To cope with the economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, the July 2020 special meeting of the European Council advocated for speeding up the reform,[48] with the intention to facilitate debt repayment raised under the framework of the Next Generation EU agreement and to relieve budgetary stresses faced by the member states.

[55] This recovery plan would complement the measures agreed by the Eurogroup for a total of €540 billion in support of health spending, unemployment and short-time work, and credit to the private sector.

The important element remains the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (RRF), which amounts to €672.5 billion between grants and loans to support investment and reforms, with a focus on the ecological and digital transition.

[citation needed] However, things are more complicated because the rule of law mechanism together with the Next Generation recovery plan is part of the new European 7-year budget cycle, and it is in relation to that where unanimity is required.

[74] Since the Polish and Hungarian governments foresaw their positions would lead them to lose out on EU funding, they decided to hold the entire budget to ransom – including the COVID-19 recovery plan.

[81] To avoid the risks of greenwashing, the European Commission drafted on 28 November 2020 a taxonomy to classify, among the industries responsible for more than 80% of greenhouse gases, economic activities according to their ecological impact and to direct investments towards projects that it recognises as "sustainable" through the recognition of a "green label".

Germany expects the heads of states and governments to agree on the recovery fund and the multi-annual financial framework, which includes a commitment to the principle of the rule of law and a mechanism to protect the budget.

The PNRR is based on three main priorities, which are gender inclusion, the education, training, and employment of youth in line with the European Flagships projects for sustainable growth, and territorial cohesion with 40% of the resources destined to the mezzogiorno.

It will also adopt enabling reforms, in order to simplify and rationalize national legislation, by removing administrative, legal, and procedural obstacles that negatively influence the quality of public services offered to its citizens and businesses.

[126] The PNRR allocates its resources to 16 specific components grouped in 6 missions, with the aim of implementing investments, projects, and structural reforms to achieve the objectives foreseen by the NGEU agreement.

[140] According to police, the fraud, which was carried out by criminal associates in Romania, Italy, Slovakia, and Austria, involved "refined money-laundering apparatus…using advanced technologies such as cloud servers located in uncooperative countries, cryptoassets, and artificial intelligence to produce false documents."

Denmark is a technologically advanced, highly developed country where the government and all other community organizations exercise important regulatory functions in society to provide comprehensive services that benefit all citizens.

In regards to the socio-economic impact of the virus, measures to support the health care system, companies, and self-employed households have been introduced in the form of deferral of payments of federal taxes, loans, and invocation of temporary unemployment.

The Next Generation recovery plan is supported by such political actors as the federal prime minister Alexander De Croo, who confirmed that the projects funded by the program are ready to start.

[176] The following structure put in place by the Spanish government intends to monitor and scrutinize the implementation and results of the Recovery and Resilience Plan:[177] The Polish economy has been developing constantly since 1989.

Anti-Crisis Shield 5.0 was launched on 15 October 2020 and was directed towards tourism and culture, to grant benefits and exemptions from the payment of social insurance for the period between July and September 2020, following the lockdowns.

Zjednoczona Prawica (United Right) led by Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (Law and Justice) reached an agreement with Lewica (The Left) on 27 April 2021, green lighting the ratification of the Next Generation EU.

The United Poland party fervently opposed the Recovery and Resilience Facility "(...) arguing it would lead to the creation of a federal Europe by letting the EU take on common debt, and also links the use of the money to not violating the rule of law – a source of friction between Brussels and Warsaw".

This unexpected success was mainly due to the speed of government decisions, the closing of borders, the strict confinement, but also the obedience of the population to the special rules decreed by the both health and political.

In addition, various measures will be taken to strengthen economic and social resilience in order to promote labour market activation and skills upgrading, modernisation of public administration and simplification of the regulatory framework.

The Bank of Greece concluded that at macroeconomic level, the country's stimulus package supported by the NextGenerationEU plan will allow an increase in real GDP by 7% by 2026 and the creation of 180,000 new jobs.

Moreover, reforms and investments in the Recovery plan support the competitiveness of the Portuguese economy, the catch-up in productivity and the convergence of incomes through commercial research, the innovation of digitization, the improvement of the energy efficiency of buildings, the capitalization of businesses, etc.

According to her, the Costa government's project suffers from excessive centralization in the hands of the Minister of Planning, making predictable the worsening of territorial inequalities and the hyper-concentration of funding on the coast.