The European Commission announced on Tuesday 29 June that it had raised €15 billion in its second ‘Next Generation EU’ operation to finance the recovery of the European economy following the coronavirus crisis and its consequences.
The Commission specifies that the transaction is a dual-tranche, consisting of a 5-year €9 billion bond (maturity: 6 July 2026) and a 30-year bond of €6 billion (maturity: 6 July 2051).
Both tranches have attracted very strong interest from investors in Europe and around the world. The operation was subscribed more than 11 times and bids exceeded €170 billion.
The Commission has thus obtained very favourable pricing conditions, following the success of the first Next Generation EU issue earlier this month and the excellent performance of the SURE programme.
This is the second transaction under the Next Generation EU programme, following the €20 billion 10-year bond that the Commission issued on behalf of the EU on 15 June (see EUROPE 12741/6).
By the end of 2021, the Commission plans to raise some €80 billion in bonds, to be complemented by short-term EU debt instruments, according to the financing plan published in June 2021.
The first disbursement under Next Generation EU took place on Monday 28 June (800 million). The payments made are for 41 national and regional programmes in 16 Member States (France, Greece, Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Netherlands, Slovakia, Estonia, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Bulgaria, Sweden, Portugal and Croatia) implemented under the initiative ‘Supporting Recovery for European Cohesion and Territories’ (REACT-EU).
To finance the Next Generation EU, the Commission will raise up to around €800 billion on the capital markets by the end of 2026: €407.5 billion available for grants, €386 billion for loans. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)