On Friday 30 January, the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the European Union would like to reach a political agreement in principle on the future €90 billion loan to Ukraine for 2026 and 2027, believing that discussions with the Member States are moving in the right direction (see EUROPE 13786/4).
However, it is not certain that it will succeed, as several national delegations have asked for time to analyse the compromise proposal on the table.
On Wednesday 28 January, at the European Parliament, several parliamentary committees questioned the European Commissioners responsible, Valdis Dombrovskis and Marta Kos, on the terms and conditions of this loan, which will be backed by the EU budget and based on enhanced cooperation allowing Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic to opt out.
One of the questions raised, in particular by Johan Van Overtveldt (ECR, Belgian), concerned the management of the interest (approximately €1 billion in 2026 and €3 billion for the following years) that the EU will have to bear.
The aim is to use the margin of the current Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). “Should this not be possible, an additional dedicated instrument would be created where 24 Member States would contribute”, said Mr Dombrovskis. He promised to ask his Budget counterpart, Piotr Serafin, to clarify this issue when he presents the proposal for amending the MFF to finance the loan on Thursday 5 February.
On the fight against corruption, the European Commissioner reiterated that Ukraine will not be able to go back on rules already in place (‘no-roll back clause’). And the Commission will have access to the Ukrainian bank account through which the European payments will be channelled. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)