Building ‘next generation’ after the pandemic : the implementation and implications of the EU Covid recovery plan

Abstract

The European Union's (EU) management of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the creation of the ‘Next Generation EU’ (NGEU) recovery plan in particular, have triggered enormous interest in the academic and policy communities. In 2021, the EU adopted the final legal acts of the recovery plan; member states drafted and submitted national recovery and resilience plans (RRPs); and the European Commission began borrowing and paying out the first funds. NGEU carries major implications for the EU's governance system, the future of its finances, and the relations between the Union and its member states. This article analyses the implementation of the EU recovery plan from late 2020 on. It describes the legal foundations, economic rationale and political controversies around the recovery and resilience facility (RRF), which is the centrepiece of NGEU. Doing so, the article assesses both the formal changes and the informal practices in the EU's governance system. It builds on primary EU and national documents, press and think-tank reports and several interviews and background talks with senior EU officials and civil servants from national administrations.