Member States’ ambassadors to the European Union discussed on Wednesday 28 September the legislative proposal to insert ‘REPowerEU’ chapters, aimed at strengthening the EU’s energy security and accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy, into the national recovery plans supported by the Next Generation EU Recovery Plan.
The aim is to reach a political agreement in principle (‘general approach’) at the Ecofin Council on Tuesday 4 October in Luxembourg.
One of the central elements of the proposal concerns the financing of the ‘REPowerEU’ chapters, through the ‘loans’ component of the European Recovery Plan, an envelope of €200 billion still being available, and also through the allocation of an additional €20 billion from the Emissions Trading System (ETS) market.
In a compromise proposal copied to EUROPE, the Czech Presidency of the EU Council also suggests allowing the Member States concerned to mobilise all or part of their allocation under the €5 billion Brexit adjustment reserve (see EUROPE 12743/6).
Several Member States are still asking questions about the criteria for allocating available funds, according to our information.
The Czech authorities also suggest that measures, originally included in a national recovery plan and which contribute to the objectives of the ‘REPowerEU’ strategy, may be reinstated into the ‘REPowerEU’ chapters if they are no longer feasible due to the reduction of the budget of a national plan (see EUROPE 12983/11).
See the Czech Presidency’s compromise proposal: https://aeur.eu/f/3ag (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)