The European Court of Auditors (ECA) asked the European Commission on Monday for “best practices” in debt management within the framework of the European Union (EU) Recovery Fund, which finances national recovery and resilience plans ( PRR).
In a report released Monday, the ECA says it found that “some of the Commission’s provisions on debt management need to be adjusted to meet best practice,” given Brussels’ role in going to the markets to raise money. for the EU. Recovery Fund.
“We also found that the Commission did not clearly define the objectives of debt management and, consequently, the evaluation and reporting of debt management performance. […] were limited,” says the European auditor in the document to which Lusa had access.
With a budget of up to 807 billion euros at current prices, the EU Recovery Fund aims to repair the economic and social damage caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and has as its central element the Recovery and Resilience Facility, which provides grants and loans to countries for reforms and investments under its RRPs.
To finance this fund, the European Commission intends to increase the amounts in the capital markets until the end of 2026 by issuing EU bonds, between 150,000 and 200,000 million euros per year.
By the end of June 2022, the Commission contracted 65 loans under this instrument, totaling €195 billion, and the costs of the loans in the first year of operation reflected its market position, according to the Court. of European Accounts.
“We conclude that the Commission quickly developed a debt management system that enabled the timely lending of the necessary funds for the EU Recovery Fund and, in this context, we consider that, in the first year of operation, the costs of the The loan will reflect the position of the Commission”, points out the auditor, who points out that the community executive “also complied with all the main regulatory requirements related to the management of the debt portfolio and risk”.
In addition, according to the ECA, the community executive also “communicated well with the capital markets and EU Member States about their borrowing plans and managed the liquidity of the EU Recovery Fund bank account efficiently.” .
Given this, the court’s recommendation is that Brussels have “clear objectives in terms of debt management and provide information on the results of their application.”
After issuing the first debt securities under the Recovery Fund in 2021 on behalf of the EU, the European Commission became one of the largest debt issuers in Europe that year, in a list topped by France, Germany, Italy and Spain and in which Portugal also appears (in 13th position).
Source: TSF
