Remarks of Commissioner Gentiloni at the ECOFIN press conference
Thank you Mihail.
Indeed we had our regular update on NextGenerationEU. I informed Ministers that, to date, the Commission has disbursed more than €267 billion to Member States, representing 41% of the total amount of the envelope. There are 16 payment requests in the pipeline, amounting to almost €45 billion.
Our goal is to bring RRF disbursements to about €300 billion by the end of the year 2024, meaning close to 50% of the RRF envelope.
Of course we know implementation will remain a challenge in the next couple of years. It will be essential for Member States to maintain a high level of commitment and close cooperation with the Commission.
The main topic of our discussion this morning with practically all ministers taking the floor was Ukraine and our economic support after the Russian invasion. Why? Because Ukraine is facing a hard winter, with reasons connected to the battlefield, the destruction of energy facilities and also to economic consequences.
I presented to ministers the package of proposals the Commission adopted in September to help Ukraine cover its immediate needs and to give perspective to the support.
As you know, in June G7 leaders agreed in Italy to provide Ukraine with US$50 billion worth of Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration – ERA – loans. These loans will be serviced and repaid by the extraordinary revenues from immobilised assets.
It sends a clear signal that the Kremlin will pay directly for the damage caused by its war of aggression.
The package we adopted on 20 September has different elements.
First: a Ukraine Loan Cooperation Mechanism of up to €45 billion, which is the US$50 billion scheme.
Second: the EU contribution to the ERA loans. The Commission proposes an exceptional Macro-Financial Assistance loan of up to €35 billion. This could be automatically reduced if enough contributions are made by G7 partners within the mechanism.
Third: the Commission presented a proposal to change the EU’s sanction regime regarding the immobilised assets from the current six months to every three years. You know that adjusting the sanctions regime is crucial to provide sufficient assurances to our G7 partners and facilitate a common G7 effort.
We are working with the Council Presidency and with co-legislators to secure approval on this package by the end of this month. The Presidency informed us of tomorrow’s possible agreement on this package in Coreper. There was a strong support from Ministers today on this package, including a quasi-unanimous support on the revision of the sanctions regime.
This is a critical moment to show our collective commitment – of the EU as well as the G7 – to support Ukraine’s immediate needs.
We know that our G7 partners are working intensively to operationalise their own commitments in the coming weeks. We will meet in October 25th in Washington with the G7 Finance track to address also this issue. It is clear that we will show commitment and unity against the Russian invasion.
