Reflecting the disharmonic relations inside the “European family,” “the Recovery Fund won’t start next January and there will be a delay for the EU budget as well, with possible repercussions on payments,” according to diplomatic sources quoted by La Repubblica. At the same time, the other EU “pandemic” tool, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), is finding roadblocks by several forces in the European Parliament.
The EU750 billion Recovery Fund is supposed to be financed partly by bonds on the market and partly by the EU seven-year budget. In order to do so without increasing the budget (thus increasing member state payments) the draft proposal agreed by EU government leaders says money should be shifted from items such as R&D etc. The European Parliament opposed that, also demanding that conditions on the “rule of law” be attached to Recovery Fund money, aimed at semi-rogue governments, such as Hungary and Poland. After the second round of negotiations among European Parliament, EU Commission and EU Council yesterday, positions on the “rule of law“ came closer but those on the EU budget did not. A compromise could be reached by the end of the year, but then it must be ratified by national parliaments. Ergo, the delays in the Recovery Fund and the budget are inevitable.
