European Recovery Fund is not a “Blank Cheque”

Josep Borrell, the European High Representative for Foreign Affairs, has stated that the recovery fund, which Spain is to receive money from, “will not be easy to execute”.

He has stipulated that no funds come without conditions and that receiving countries will not receive a “blank cheque”.

Each EU country receiving assistance from the European Recovery Fund will have to agree and comply with the array of conditions laid out by the EU. However, in a recent interview, Borrell stated that there will be a “logical conditionality so that these resources are used for the purposes for which they are destined”

Furthermore, he has expressed concern that the time that this process will take may leave members of the public, specifically those in lower-paid, lower-skilled roles, disillusioned and impatient because of the complexity of the process. He stated, “it will not be easy to execute those billions”

Currently, Spain is due to receive a total of €140bn from the European Recovery Fund over the next six years from the recovery fund, the total value of which sits at €750bn and is the first time in its history that the EU will collectively borrow from the global market. The EU fund total of €750bn is split between €390 billion in grants and €360 billion in low-interest loans.

While the funds will be welcome and forthcoming it is understandable that there is a degree of tension about how these will be distributed and monitored to ensure they are distributed efficiently and effectively.

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