Coronavirus: President von der Leyen sets out the main features of the Recovery Plan for Europe

Yesterday, President von der Leyen gave a speech at the European Parliament plenary debate on the new Multiannual Financial Framework, own resources and the Recovery Plan, setting out the architecture and main features of the Recovery Plan for Europe that the Commission will soon present. Due to the magnitude of the pandemic’s impact on our lives and our economy, President von der Leyen said: “We will recover but it will take time. We need to support those that need it the most, we have to push for investment and reform, and we have to strengthen our economies by focusing on our common priorities like the European Green Deal, digitalisation and resilience.” The recovery package will consist of the new Multiannual Financial Framework revamped to take into account the impact of the crisis and of a Recovery Instrument. The recovery funding will be spent across three pillars: “The first pillar will focus on supporting Member States to recover, repair and come out stronger from the crisis. The bulk of the money will be spent within this first pillar, on a new Recovery and Resilience tool – created to fund key public investment and reforms aligned with our European priorities. The second pillar is about kick-starting the economy and helping private investment to get moving again. We will strengthen InvestEU. We will also create for the first time a new Strategic Investment Facility. This will help invest in key value chains crucial for our future resilience and strategic autonomy. Europe must be able to produce critical medicines itself. The third pillar is about learning the most immediate lessons of the crisis. We will strengthen programmes that have proven their value in the crisis, such as RescEU or Horizon Europe. We will create a new, dedicated Health Programme.” This short-term Recovery Instrument, which will include grants, will focus on where the greatest needs and the potential are, to be able to deliver. In addition to the safety nets already in place, President von der Leyen emphasised that this recovery package “will be the ambitious answer Europe needs”. The European Parliament will play its full role to ensure democratic accountability in this endeavour. The speech is available online in all EU languages.