Euro area Finance Ministers remain determined to apply “vigorously” all budgetary and economic measures, at European and national levels, to protect the economy and jobs as Europe faces a second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Nevertheless, the Nineteen believe that Europe is now better equipped to weather the economic fallout from the pandemic, they said in a declaration they adopted on Tuesday 3 November.
“We’re stronger together” to build economic recovery by mobilising the resources of the Single Market, said Paschal Donohoe, President of the Eurogroup.
He recalled the three safety nets - for short-time workers (SURE instrument), for States (European Stability Mechanism credit line) and for companies (EIB pan-European guarantee fund) - set up in April during the first pandemic wave.
These three instruments are operational and, apart from the ESM credit line, have been mobilised to the tune of €87 billion for SURE (see EUROPE 12590/12) and €1 billion for the EIB fund.
Nevertheless, in the words of the European Commissioner for the Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, the “dramatic” worsening of the health situation since September has increased uncertainty about the economic situation. He had hoped for a smaller relapse than in the spring, thanks to appropriate lockdown measures and better preparation of economic operators.
The Eurogroup underlines the urgency of reaching an Interinstitutional Agreement on the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the budgetary instrument at the heart of the Next Generation EU Recovery Plan, so that European support (€672.5 billion: 312.5 billion in grants and 360 billion in loans) irrigates the economy at the earliest in 2021.
Today, “the urgency is not to move the cursors” but to move as quickly as possible in the approval of the European Recovery Plan, said a source from Bercy earlier in the day. For this source, it will be possible to take into account the impact of the second wave when approving national recovery plans.
While the EU Council has decided on its negotiating position (see EUROPE 12578/3), MEPs will vote on Monday 9 November (see EUROPE 12551/11).
See the Eurogroup statement: https://bit.ly/3mPJrG0 (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)