The month of August is upon us, and as usual, we want to dedicate a special greeting to our readers.
We believe that this year’s farewell is very special indeed, because the approach of the summer break leaves open a lot of constantly evolving issues that we have addressed throughout this year and will take up again in September. Therefore, let us try to sum up the main news of this first part of 2020 and understand together what the coming months might bring us.
Covid-19
The first part of the year was marked by the impact of the pandemic on our personal and professional lives. Since February, our Guide has devoted several pages to the European emergency response(1 | 2 | 3) and its direct impact on European projects(4 | 5). Where do we stand?
The debate on the response to the Coronavirus has become directly linked to the debate on the future of Europe and its financial planning. Indeed, the situation calls for new solutions and more resources to deal with the health, economic and social impacts of the crisis.This is the thrust of the Plan for the Recovery of Europe (pdf)/ Next Generation EU(pdf), the subject of proposal by the European Commission, agreement in the European Council and now debate in Parliament.
Community institutions are also engaged at the forefront on more specific and immediate forms of emergency response. These pages with the latest news from the European Commission, Parliament and Council. Among other things, there is good news regarding:
- The availability of treatment (Remdesivir),
- new callsdedicated to post-pandemic recovery ( call text here),
- The availability of data for scientific research.
EU budget
Establishing the new EU budget is obviously a priority on the eve of the start of the new seven-year programming period 2021-2027. We have devoted a separate column to this topic, of which we mainly report:
- A tentative outline of future community calls (which will be updated based on current discussions),
- a detailed review of the budget approval process (a useful tool for understanding and keeping up to date, via dedicated links),
- an update following the European Council’s agreement on the resources allocated for the next seven years and for the Plan for the Recovery of Europe (Next Generation EU).
At present, therefore, the main open matches are as follows, which are interrelated:
- The approval of Own Resources 2021-2027 (RP),
- The approval of the relevant new Financial Framework (FFF),
- the approval of Next Generation EU (NGEU).
The floor on these issues now lies mainly with the European Parliament: the relevant official documents have already been approved by the Commission(RP | MFF | NGEU) and the European Council(conclusions).
At the moment, the European Parliament’s position on Next Generation EU is positive: NGEU is indeed an important innovation among the tools available to Europe to cope with the crisis and revive recovery in the short term. However, Parliament finds the long-term financial allocation and commitment to the necessary reform of the Proprietary Resources system insufficient, preparing to veto it (as per its prerogatives) in the absence of adequate steps in this direction, especially from the Council. In fact, as mentioned earlier, the allocation currently agreed upon for the period 2021-2027 is lower than expected and the Recovery Plan is exceptional in nature.
Parliament’s first official positions on these issues can be retraced here: July 21 | July 22 | July 23( 1 ) | July 23 (2). The Parliament recently reaffirmed (through its President David Sassoli) the importance of speedy time in the European Parliament’s formulation of an opinion and in reaching an agreement.
Brexit
This is a topic to which we have devoted recent attention(here and here). Although other priorities have catalyzed the attention of European and British authorities, the process continues.
On January 31, 2020, the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union officially began. 2020 is considered a “transitional year”: an extension of the transitional period (which was possible according to initial agreements) has been ruled out, so as of December 31, the UK will for all intents and purposes be considered a non-member of the EU.
What is new in this regard and what will happen?
Tight rounds of negotiations are underway between European and British representatives, which can be explored in depth on the dedicated Commission and European Council pages. Additional insights are also available regarding the future post-Brexit framework and how to prepare for (as of January 1) the end of the transition period.
Other food for thought
“Europe Near Us” is a new column that we plan to develop further in the coming months: a series of interviews with key players involved in promoting Europe and supporting europlanning activities in our territories. These interviews will allow you to get to know them better and gather very interesting insights for your business. Stay tuned!
The emergency-Covid period made us discover (or rediscover) particularly interesting and comprehensive sources of information and self-education. We have always-and with greater intensity in recent months-gave attention to this issue, which we have collected in a dedicated section of our guide. We will continue in September with many more collected materials of interest! The summer break can be a time for some of us to do some reading and insights (to which we add, for completeness, our other “questions and answers” column).
Have a great summer everyone!
