On Monday 21 December, the European Commission confirmed its plans for bond issuance in 2021 under its existing borrowing programmes.
These programmes include the SURE instrument to support short-term employment schemes in EU Member States, the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism (EFSM) to refinance debt to two EU countries as well as the Macro-Financial Assistance (MFA) to help non-Member States address the coronavirus crisis.
In total, the EU will raise at least €62.9 billion under these three programmes. Of this amount, between €30 and €35 billion are expected to be mobilised in the first quarter of the year and between €25 and 30 billion in the second quarter.
Commissioner for Budget and Administration, Johannes Hahn, said that between mid-October and mid-November the Commission raised almost €40 billion under the SURE programme.
In addition, the Commission will continue preparations for the first issuance under NextGenerationEU. The Commission is expected to start borrowing to finance recovery under this instrument as soon as the legislative process is completed, around mid-2021. EU Member States must ratify the Own Resources Decision in accordance with their constitutional requirements. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)