The European Union’s member states still have over 160 billion euros in unclaimed funding from the COVID-19 recovery fund at their disposal, according to a report by the German news magazine Spiegel, citing calculations by FDP budget politician Moritz Körner, based on EU Commission data. The commission has so far disbursed approximately 197 billion euros out of the nearly 360 billion euros allocated for the 27 member states.
On average, the countries have claimed 41 percent of the funds available to them. Luxembourg, Bulgaria and Finland have claimed the lowest percentage, at 13, 24 and 26 percent, respectively, as the report shows. In contrast, France, Italy and Germany have claimed a significantly higher percentage, at 77, 65 and 65 percent, respectively.
The take-up of European COVID-19 loans is even lower, with only 13 of the 27 member states having claimed these loans, on average, taking up around 28 percent of the available funds.
FDP politician Körner believes the debate over additional borrowing is misguided. “The member states have significant sums of unutilized funding from the recovery fund at their disposal” he said. “Instead of incurring debt, they should finally claim these funds.”
The commission is currently preparing a proposal for the next seven-year financial framework, with the discussion centering on financing new tasks, such as defense, through loans.