The EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility: An Exceptional Borrowing Instrument?

Figures & data

Table A1: EU/EC Borrowing Instruments.

Borrowing instruments	Established/Discontinued^a	Treaty Basis	Secondary Law (Selected)	Summary of aims	Total subscribed capital	Lending/Grant Capacity^b
ECSC Loan Facility	1952 –2002	Articles 49–54, ECSC Treaty		To finance investment in the coal and steel sectors To finance works and installations
European Investment Bank	1958 – ongoing	Article 308–309, TFEU Protocol (No. 5) on the Statute of the EIB, TFEU		To contribute to the balanced and steady development of the internal market in the interest of the Union.	€248.8 billion
Euratom Loans	1977 – ongoing	Article 172, Euratom Treaty	Council Decision 77/270/Euratom Council Decision 90/212/Euratom Council Decision 94/179/Euratom: Council Decision	To finance investment in nuclear power generation and the nuclear fuel cycle in EU member states. To finance safety, efficiency or decommissioning of nuclear power stations in third countries.		€4 billion
Community Loan Mechanism	1975–1988	Article 235, TEC	Council Regulation (EEC) 397/75 Council Regulation (EEC) No 1131/85	To support member states facing balance of payments difficulties caused by the increase in petroleum prices		ECU 8 billion
New Community Instrument	1983 –	Article 235, TEC	Council Decision 83/200/EEC	To finance investment projects which contribute to convergence, integration and competitiveness		ECU 3 billion
Balance of Payments Assistance Facility	1988 –	Article 143, TFEU Article 308, TFEU	Council Regulation (EEC) No 1969/88 of 24 June 1988 Council Regulation (EC) No 332/2002 Council Regulation (EC) No 431/2009	To support member states facing difficulties in their balance of current payments or capital movements.		ECU 16 billion (1992); reduced to €12 billion in 2002; increased to €50 billion in 2009
Macro Financial Assistance (Plus)	1990 –	Article 212, TFEU	e.g. Decision (EU) 2020/701 of the European Parliament and of The Council	To support third countries facing balance of payments difficulties		Specified case by case
EFSM	2010 –	Article 122	Council Regulation (EU) No 407/2010 Council Regulation (EU) 2015/1360	To support member states facing a severe economic or financial disturbance caused by exceptional occurrences beyond their control		€60 billion. Limited to ‘the margin available under the own resources ceiling for payment appropriations’.
EFSF	2010 – 2013	EFSF Framework Agreement		To support euro area members in difficulties caused by exceptional circumstances beyond their control.	€780 billion	€440 billion
ESM	2012 – ongoing	Article 136 TFEU Treaty Establishing the ESM		To support member states facing severe financing problems	€700 billion	€500 billion
SURE	2020–2022	Article 122	Council Regulation (EU) 2020/672	To support short-term work schemes or similar measures and some health-related measures		€100 billion
Recovery and Resilience Facility	2020–2023	Article 174 TFEU	Regulation (EU) 2021/241 Council Regulation (EU) 2020/2094	To promote the resilience, crisis preparedness, adjustment capacity and growth potential of the Member States, by mitigating the social and economic impact of COVID-19		€723.8 billion

a Refers to date at which borrowing instruments can no longer offer loans or grants. b Refers to most recent ceiling. The Recovery and Resilience Facility’s ceiling was set at €672.5 billion in 2018 prices. The figure in the table refers to the current value as of June 2022. For a discussion of how borrowing instruments created during the euro crisis fit together with wider governance reforms see Table 1 in the supplemental annex to Verdun (2015)

Verdun, A. 2015. “A Historical Institutionalist Explanation of the Eu’s Responses to the Euro Area Financial Crisis.” Journal of European Public Policy 22 (2): 219–237. https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2014.994023.

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar