European Parliament seeks extension to time for spending EU post-COVID money

Published connected 18/06/2025 - 19:34 GMT+2•Updated 19/06/2025 - 9:14 GMT+2

The European Parliament called connected Wednesday for an other one-and-a-half years to proceed spending money nether nan EU's €650 cardinal post-pandemic plan, Next GenerationEU.  

The resolution, drafted by Romanian MEPs Victor Negrescu and Siegfried Mureşan, was adopted by 421 votes to 180, pinch 55 abstentions. It stressed the request to guarantee that cardinal investments financed by nan plan's alleged Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) scope nan decorativeness statement earlier nan deadline foreseen successful August 2026.

It projected clip extensions should use only to projects that are already good underway and apt to win pinch further time.

Lawmakers besides warned that nan constricted clip remaining to allocate and instrumentality nan remaining RRF resources poses superior obstacles to completing captious reforms, large-scale investments, and innovative programs successful immoderate countries. 

With astir 70% of objectives and milestones still unmet, MEPs urged the European Commission to see mounting up successor mechanisms that are some adaptive and forward-looking, while providing a unchangeable model for replace nan scheme to guarantee continued investment.

“Critical investments consequence being near unfinished aft nan extremity of nan Facility successful August 2026. I called for an hold of backing of 18 months for mature projects and demanded that unfinished projects tin proceed nether different EU instruments specified arsenic nan cohesion funds, InvestEU, aliases a early Competitiveness Fund,” said Socialist MEP Victor Negrescu, co-rapporteur connected behalf of nan Parliament’s Committee connected Budgets.

“Today, nan Parliament is sending a clear message: we guidelines by nan citizens and conflict for nan finalisation of basal projects.”

According to nan solution adopted by nan Parliament, nan RRF has been captious successful preventing economical fragmentation wrong nan EU’s azygous marketplace while spurring post-pandemic recovery. 

Looking forward, they telephone for targeted finance successful areas specified arsenic defence, education, and high-speed cross-border carrier infrastructure, while encouraging personnel states to revise their nationalist finance strategies, successful bid to heighten nan EU’s power independence.

“We are calling for a reappraisal of really unspent RRF costs tin support Europe’s caller strategical priorities, notably strengthening competitiveness and reinforcing our defence capabilities. In nan look of rising geopolitical tensions, Europe must enactment decisively to take sides its citizens," stated European People’s Party MEP Siegfried Mureşan, who is co-rapporteur for nan Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee.