Next Generation EU (NGEU) is a European Commission economic recovery package to support the EU member states to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular those that have been particularly hard hit. It is sometimes styled NextGenerationEU and Next Gen EU, and also called the European Union Recovery Instrument. Agreed in principle by the European Council on 21 July 2020 and adopted on 14 December 2020, the instrument is worth €750 billion. NGEU will operate from 2021 to 2026, and will be tied to the regular 2021–2027 budget of the EU's Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). The comprehensive NGEU and MFF packages are projected to reach €1824.3 billion.
The ancient Roman Agora in Athens illuminated with a Next Generation EU sign
Paramedics carrying a patient under biocontainment in Italy
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in 2020
Hungary's prime minister Viktor Orbán harshly criticised the "rule of law" regulation
European Stability Mechanism
The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) is an intergovernmental organization located in Luxembourg City, which operates under public international law for all eurozone member states having ratified a special ESM intergovernmental treaty. It was established on 27 September 2012 as a permanent firewall for the eurozone, to safeguard and provide instant access to financial assistance programmes for member states of the eurozone in financial difficulty, with a maximum lending capacity of €500 billion. It has replaced two earlier temporary EU funding programmes: the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) and the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism (EFSM).
Image: PRESS CONFERENCE INFORMAL MEETING OF MINISTERS FOR ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL AFFAIRS (Informal ECOFIN) 2016 09 09 (28938643543)
Image: Informal meeting of economic and financial affairs ministers (ECOFIN). Handshake, Eurogroup Toomas Tõniste and Pierre Gramegna (36840348840) CROP GRAMEGNA