Il Recovery Fund

The Next Generation EU (also called Recovery Fund for its function of restructuring the economy of the member States, after the COVID-19 pandemic) is a plan with which the European Union aims to raise funds on the market through the issue of bonds and, subsequently, to disburse sums of money, including non-repayable funds, for the realization of projects of common European interest. With this plan, the EU intends to finance the so-called green transition, bridge the digital divide and, in addition, support the structural reforms necessary for each member State. The program is very ambitious and marks a turning point in the European Union’s approach to managing economic crises, in the sense that, instead of the so-called ‘austerity’, the supranational legislator prefers to finance investments capable of supporting growth and industrial reconversion. The paper analyzes the conclusions of the extraordinary meeting of the European Council in July and the main draft acts published by the European Commission. The author notes that the program presents certain provisions which, at first glance, may appear incompatible with the Treaty, such as the power of the Commission to issue bonds and the incidence of the no bail-out clause on the legitimacy of non-repayable aids. However, these doubts can be resolved in the light of the correct reading of the provisions of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The problem is that the Next Generation EU plan ends up restricting the already limited room for maneuver of national parliaments in defining economic policies, so it does not seem really lawful in the light of the democratic principle enshrined in Article 10 TEU.