The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced in person on Tuesday 8 June that the European College of Commissioners would present “next week” its first recommendations for the adoption of national recovery plans by the Council of the European Union.
“Already next week, the Commission will start to approve the national plans for Council adoption”, she said, back at the European Parliament’s seat in Strasbourg. She called it a “landmark achievement”, coming “less than a year after the EU Council deal” on the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework and Next Generation EU, “the most ambitious recovery plan in Europe since the Marshall Plan” after World War II.
The Commission promises a rigorous assessment of the 23 national plans that have been submitted so far. At the end of the plenary debate, its executive vice-president for the economy, Valdis Dombrovskis, promised: “We will not adopt plans that do not respect the 37% investment threshold for the climate transition and the 20% threshold for the digital transition, that contain measures that do not respect the ‘do no significant harm’ principle, that do not cover a significant range of country-specific socioeconomic policy recommendations”.
On behalf of the EU Council, Portuguese Secretary of State for European Affairs Ana Paula Zacarias spoke of the “enormous challenge” of getting the national plans approved on time. Member States expect to be informed of the Commission’s evaluation work “in June”, she said. Possibly at the Ecofin Council on Friday 18 June.
The EU Council will have 1 month to formally adopt a national plan after the Commission has presented a recommendation for adoption.
Both the Commission and the EU Council have given assurances that they will keep MEPs duly informed of the ongoing procedure, although MEPs complain that they are kept in the dark (see EUROPE 12723/27).
On Thursday 10 June, Parliament will adopt “a proactive resolution”, calling on the Commission to “meticulously” assess national recovery plans in order to uphold the “letter and spirit” of EU law and to grant “no political concessions” on investments and reforms, said Siegfried Mureșan (EPP, Romania).
On behalf of the S&D group, Spain’s Iratxe García Pérez (S&D) spoke of the “opportunity” that Next Generation EU represents as a step towards greater budgetary integration in the EU, and the “risk” of a delay in its realisation which could tempt the right.
Other MEPs criticised the lack of ambition of some national plans. Luis Garicano (Renew Europe, Spain) said his country’s plan invests too little in people through labour market and education reform, and too much in the purchase of manufactured goods. On behalf of the Greens/EFA group, German MEP Damian Boeselager criticised the attitude of some countries that are treating the European Recovery Plan as “a mere refinancing tool” at European level. Greenwashing practices are still too widespread, he said, echoing a specific letter from his group analysing the content of national plans (see EUROPE 12732/5). Johan Van Overtveldt (ECR, Belgium) spoke of abuses leading to “ misuse of the EU budget” and undermining confidence, but did not give specific examples.
Criticising the right’s call for reforms, Dimitrios Papadimoulis (The Left, Greece) said that national plans should above all “reduce inequalities” within a country and between Member States. There should be no further calls for austerity measures, he stressed.
In their draft resolution, MEPs remind the Commission that national plans must respect the EU’s fundamental values and support youth. No measure in a national recovery plan should violate the ‘do no significant harm’ principle, they say.
See the draft resolution: https://bit.ly/2TQglwV (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)