After the recovery plan, the European resilience plan once morest Vladimir Putin’s Russia. According to our information, discussions have begun within the Twenty-Seven to set up a new mutual fund as soon as possible to absorb the shock of the war waged by the Kremlin in Ukraine. An announcement to this effect might even be made during the informal European summit organized at the instigation of Emmanuel Macron, Thursday 10 and Friday 11 March in Versailles.
The Head of State continues, as during his televised speech on Wednesday, to call on Europe to change in order to “become a power, more independent, more sovereign”. The accelerated emergence of a community resilience plan – the name has not yet been decided – would be part of this logic, following the Twenty-Seven broke a first taboo since the start of hostilities, by deciding to finance together lethal weapons delivered to Ukraine.
Emmanuel Macron should address the issue on Sunday March 6 during an interview with the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, who is in Paris to set up the summit of heads of state and government. In Brussels, Ursula von der Leyen and the Commission have launched preparatory work. The Head of State also discussed the subject with the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, on Friday, on the sidelines of the calls made following the brutal takeover by the Russian army of the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia, in southern Ukraine. Angela Merkel’s former social-democratic finance minister had played a crucial role in 2020 in building the recovery plan intended to support the countries most affected by the pandemic. The debate had at the time lasted several months, and sparked a showdown with the “frugal” countries, the Netherlands in the lead.
This device, endowed with 750 billion euros, was a great first in Europe, since it is financed by the issue of a common debt. The recovery plan is being spent in the countries whose projects have been validated by Brussels. In the short term, some of these funds can also be redirected to cushion the consequences of the war in Ukraine.
Diversify energy sources
But the magnitude of the Russian offensive risks forcing the Twenty-Seven to go even further. The resilience plan should also be financed by an issue of European debt, in order to provide it with a solid financial capacity – even if no figures have yet been advanced. “It is a question of reacting very quickly to the economic consequences of the conflict”say two French sources familiar with the matter.
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