{"id":42772,"date":"2021-06-07T06:01:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-07T06:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/revistaidees.cat\/analisis\/diari-de-les-idees\/diari-de-les-idees-43-especial-fons-ue-next-generation\/"},"modified":"2021-06-09T07:06:38","modified_gmt":"2021-06-09T07:06:38","slug":"diari-de-les-idees-43-especial-fons-ue-next-generation","status":"publish","type":"newspaper","link":"https:\/\/revistaidees.cat\/en\/analisis\/diari-de-les-idees\/diari-de-les-idees-43-especial-fons-ue-next-generation\/","title":{"rendered":"Diari de les idees 43 &#8211; Special issue NextGeneration EU"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Now that we are slowly emerging from the most critical phases of the coronavirus pandemic, we are at a crucial moment for post-pandemic economic recovery and the specific nature of the policies that will mark the coming decades. That is why we have decided to dedicate this special issue of the <em>Diari de les idees<\/em> to the Recovery Plan for Europe known as <a href=\"https:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/info\/strategy\/recovery-plan-europe_es\">NextGeneration<\/a>, and the selection of fifty articles analysing it from different perspectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The NextGeneration Plan is the European recovery programme designed to overcome the pandemic and transform the economy, create opportunities and jobs through an investment of <strong>750 billion<\/strong> euros among all EU member countries. This amount of resources is the largest economic stimulus financed by the EU in its entire history. The <strong><em>Recovery and Resilience Facility <\/em><\/strong>is at the heart of NextGeneration EU, with <strong>\u20ac672.5 billion<\/strong> in loans and grants available to support reforms and investments by European companies. The aim is to mitigate the economic and social impact caused by the coronavirus pandemic and to make European economies and societies more sustainable, resilient and prepared for the challenges and opportunities of ecological and digital transitions. &nbsp;This amount is broken down into EUR 360 billion that will be in loans and EUR 312.5 billion in grants. NextGeneration also includes \u20ac47.5 billion for the REACT-EU programme, which continues and expands the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative and the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative Plus. Finally, the amount is supplemented to EUR 750 billion by complementary programmes such as the Fair Transition Funds or Horizon Europe detailed below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thus, a total of 1.8 billion euros will be allocated to the reconstruction of Europe after COVID-19, a Europe that wants to emerge from the crisis with a greener, digital and more resilient economy. In addition, the new long-term budget will increase flexibility mechanisms to ensure its ability to meet unforeseen needs in order to be prepared not only for current realities, but also for future uncertainties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The main elements of the agreement signed in July 2020 by the 27 Member States stress that more than 50% of the amount will be used to support modernisation, mainly through research and innovation, by means of (a) the&nbsp; Horizon Europe programme (EUR 5 billion); b) climate and digital transitions, through the Fair Transition Fund and Digital Europe programme (EUR 10 billion); and c) preparedness, recovery and resilience, through the RescEU fund (\u20ac1.9 billion) and a new health programme, EU4Health (\u20ac9.4 billion). In addition, the recovery fund will also deal with the modernisation of traditional policies, such as cohesion and the common agricultural policy, so that they contribute as far as possible to the Union&#8217;s priorities, the fight against climate change, to which 30% of EU funds will be allocated, and the protection of biodiversity and gender equality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To finance NextGeneration, the European Commission will borrow -on behalf of the European Union- in the markets at more favourable costs than many member states and redistribute the amounts. For the Commission to start obtaining loans, all Member States must ratify the new Net Wealth Decision in accordance with their respective constitutional rules. On the other hand, the European Commission already issues bonds to finance loans to the EU and third countries under four programmes, for example, up to EUR 100 billion allocated to the SURE programme to promote employment and maintain jobs. The Commission will use a diversified financing strategy to raise until 2026, with the best possible financial conditions, some EUR 800 billion at current prices for NextGeneration, representing 5% of the EU&#8217;s GDP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, with regard to the timetable for the implementation of the NextGeneration funds, these are the most important deadlines:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>30 April was the deadline for the official submission of the RRF by each Member State to the European Commission.<\/li><li>June 2021: Deadline for the European Commission to issue its opinions.<\/li><li>July 2021: Deadline for the European Council to issue its ruling.<\/li><li>2022: Allocation of the Second Tranche (30%) of the RRF<\/li><li>December 2022: Deadline to commit 60% of the RRF.<\/li><li>December 2023: 100% of the RRM has to be committed.<\/li><li>December 2026: Project implementation deadline<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>For more details on how it works, you can consult the <a href=\"https:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/info\/sites\/default\/files\/economy-finance\/rrf-factsheet.pdf\">fact sheet<\/a> provided by the European Commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a general introduction to NextGeneration, we highlight Paola Tamma and Eszter Zalan articles who respectively explain in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/article\/europe-eu-recovery-fund-5-things-to-know\/\"><em>Politico<\/em><\/a> &nbsp;and <a href=\"https:\/\/euobserver.com\/coronavirus\/151764\">EUObserver<\/a> what the mechanisms to apply the recovery fund are. They stress that all Member States were due to submit their spending plans for the fund by the end of April, which should include certain objectives, such as investment in digital transition and green energy. From now on, the Commission must strike a balance between compliance with the plans proposed by the countries and their joint economic viability. A viability also directly related to the process of amortization of the 400 billion euros lent. The Commission is already preparing the creation of new taxes aimed at raising sufficient funds over the next three decades to pay the debt. These new taxes consist mainly of: a border adjustment mechanism for carbon emissions, a digital tax, a tax on financial transactions, and a financial contribution linked to the business sector and a new common corporate tax base. According to the authors of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spglobal.com\/ratings\/en\/research\/articles\/210427-next-generation-eu-will-shift-european-growth-into-a-higher-gear-11929949\">report<\/a> by Standard &amp;Poor&#8217;s, in the next five years European funds will have a significant impact which, in the worst case, would increase the GDP of the Member States by 1.5%, while in the best case scenario it could mean an increase of 4.1%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the other hand, we cannot ignore the fact that the European Union&#8217;s new strategy represents an economic revolution that seeks to reduce the differences that have grown between member states during the pandemic. The increased role of the EU with regard to the economic decisions of each Member State based on European economic harmonisation can promote economic structural reform in the Member States, and favour and promote the creation of a green and digital economy with the aim of strengthening and extending the international leadership of the euro. In short, a recovery plan which, according to Martin Arnold and Sam Fleming in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/2289951b-2c22-483d-a5e9-6eb820c82217\"><em>Financial Times,<\/em><\/a> will allow a substantial boost to growth that will probably be higher than that predicted by the EU or the countries themselves. With vaccination campaigns accelerating after an unstable start to the year and the end of lockdowns and restrictions, recent surveys of EU businesses and households show that their confidence is rebounding well above levels before the pandemic. Economists therefore expect the Commission to revise&nbsp;&nbsp; upwards the EU&#8217;s growth forecasts of 3.7% for 2021 and 3.9% for 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Furthermore, the coronavirus has also illustrated the need for greater European coordination to deal with health emergencies and it is clear that the EU institutions will now play a greater role in preparing for future pandemics. In this regard, in a panel of experts assembled by the think tank &nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.clingendael.org\/publication\/should-coronavirus-accelerate-european-integration\">Clingendael<\/a>, Rem Korteweg points out that despite the difficulties faced by the EU, the purchase of vaccines by the Commission on behalf of the Member States has been a success, since had it not done so, it would have triggered a bidding war in the EU&#8217;s internal market, which would inevitably have led to enormous friction between countries. Another outcome of the pandemic will be a new balance of economic power between countries that were able to keep their economies afloat and those that were not. Therefore, the economic inequalities following the coronavirus will create new problems for the EU&#8217;s internal market and require greater supervision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Beyond the NextGeneration, in <a href=\"https:\/\/legrandcontinent.eu\/fr\/2021\/05\/12\/le-monde-apres-le-plan-de-relance\/\"><em>Le Grand Continent,<\/em><\/a> Francesco Sarraceno advocates a central spending capacity at EU level, i.e. a permanent recovery plan.&nbsp; He argues we should not think that the recovery funds will be the solution to all the problems of the European economy and that we should think about what will come next. In the coming years, especially if recovery proves effective, it will be necessary to provide the Union with a central spending capacity for the provision of European public goods (health, ecological transition, territorial cohesion) in addition to national programmes. In this respect, NextGeneration programme is only a first step: it is temporary and does not finance European investments, but national ones. For the future, a permanent recovery plan will be needed at European level, which will be a complex project and which will have to resolve important issues in terms of political responsibility, cost sharing and allocation of resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, Nikos Chrysoloras recalls in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/newsletters\/2021-04-28\/eu-s-recovery-funds-still-faces-hurdles-brussels-edition\">Bloomberg<\/a> that European funds still face numerous difficulties. For example, there are still several countries such as Hungary that must ratify the decision that will allow the European Commission to increase public debt in order to finance the package of measures. <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/pourquoi-les-fonds-du-plan-de-relance-europeen-nont-pas-encore-ete-debloques-160286\"><em>The Conversation<\/em><\/a>&nbsp; also &nbsp;points out the main causes of the delay in &nbsp;implementing the plan. The first, of a legal nature, was quickly resolved as the law authorising the adoption of the decision on appeals obtained a solid two-thirds majority in the Bundestag and has been unanimous in the Bundesrat. The second problem, of a political nature, has a more uncertain outcome. In Poland, a small party that is part of the government refuses to support the Net Wealth Decision, further exacerbating tensions within the tripartite coalition led by the Law and Justice party. When this problem is resolved, the Commission will have two months to evaluate the national plans, with particular attention to the coherence of public investments and the structural reforms that will have to be carried out until 2026 to meet the challenges of ecological (at least 37% of the resources allocated to each Member State) and digital&nbsp; (at least 20%) transitions. &nbsp;Finally, the European Council will have one month to approve these plans on a case-by-case basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The experts, however, also analyse the long-term consequences of NextGeneration in terms of the non-repayable contributions and that the Member States will have to repay. Rebecca Christie, researcher at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bruegel.org\/2020\/12\/thinking-big-debt-management-considerations-for-the-eus-pandemic-borrowing-plan\/\">Bruegel<\/a> think tank, argues that the effects of the pandemic may for many years hold the European Union to play a role as a debt issuer that was not&nbsp; provided for by the Treaties or by the&nbsp; Member States. After the recovery package adoption, the European Union will also lead a period of economic transition that will shape Europe&#8217;s future in the coming years. In this respect, to see the impact that the pandemic and the change of course has&nbsp; had&nbsp; on&nbsp; the role of the EU institutions, one only &nbsp;needs to compare the resources that have been provided to the Member States in the &nbsp;past with what is expected to be adopted from now on. &nbsp;If during the 2011 crisis, the EU lent around EUR 29.5 billion to member states, now the amount approved by NextGeneration with regard to loans is EUR 360 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The issue of debt payments is also addressed by Paola Tamma in &nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/article\/how-will-the-eu-repay-the-billions-to-fund-europes-recovery\/\"><em>Politico,<\/em><\/a> where she points out that one of the problems is that the Member States have different opinions and approaches to debt repayment and that, therefore, the proposal for new taxes put forward by the Commission must be sufficiently balanced so that it can be accepted by all. If the Commission&#8217;s initiatives to obtain new taxes fail to reach a consensus, the alternative options (repaying subsidies over the years by increasing states&#8217; contributions to the EU budget or through budget cuts) are neither very attractive. Therefore, before the end of the current budget period, the 27 EU leaders would have to negotiate a new seven-year budget that includes a way to cover the debt incurred by the rescue fund. Another alternative is for the Member States to agree on a permanent debt throughout the EU. This has so far been a taboo subject, but recent favourable statements, such as those by Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, have given new impetus to the debate. Likewise, Adam Tooze states in an interview in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/news\/q-and-a\/how-the-pandemic-changed-europe\"><em>The New Yorker<\/em><\/a> &nbsp;that while the recovery fund is remarkable in many ways and that the fiscal response of member states and the ECB during the health crisis has been a big step forward, Europe is still defining a largely inadequate fiscal policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ceps.eu\/ceps-publications\/avoiding-the-main-risks-in-the-recovery-plans-of-member-states\/\">report<\/a> published by the <em>Centre<\/em> for<em> European<\/em> Policy<em> Studies, <\/em>&nbsp;one&nbsp; of the most influential European think tanks, Jorge N\u00fa\u00f1ez warns of some of the main risks to the success of the recovery plans, such as wanting to cover too much, the maintenance of unsustainable sectors, delays in implementation, as well as the lack of a more European transversal &nbsp;dimension or the inability&nbsp; to implement&nbsp; a process that is very complex and that is above the normal budget of the European Union. The report also presents a number of solutions to ensure that critical aspects of recovery programmes and the key long-term objective of the recovery are implemented. These include the need &nbsp;for major structural reforms in the Member States, better management and control systems at EU level, well-designed active labour market policies, as well as a clear framework for&nbsp; public-private collaboration to ensure that the funds allocated are used more effectively. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once again, from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bruegel.org\/2021\/04\/setting-europes-economic-recovery-in-motion-a-first-look-at-national-plans\/\"><em>Bruegel,<\/em><\/a> the think tank specialized in economics and representative of the orthodoxy of European economic policies, Zsolt Darvas and Simone Tagliapietra make an initial assessment of the plans submitted by the four main European economic powers and point out that France, Germany, Italy and Spain reflect very different priorities. The plans have very different structures, which makes them difficult to compare, especially since they classify the different spending priorities differently. As for the green and digital components, France and Germany present exact figures; Spain communicates qualitative information, while Italy presents a separate digitization plan and two ecological transition programs. Broadly speaking, the study reveals that Germany expects to allocate 11,000 million to the ecological transition and 15,000 to the digital transition, France 21,000 million and 10,000 million, Spain 31,000 million and 16,000 million and Italy 86,000 million and 42,000 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Possibly, because of their lower allocation, German investments in green infrastructure and mobility focuses on the development of electric mobility, with incentives to encourage the deployment of electric cars, buses and trains. In Spain, which has a larger allocation, the plan foresees investments in the development of electric mobility, but also in public transportation. Meanwhile, in both France and Italy, half of the investments are focused on the development of the rail system. Investments in green energy are also structured differently. Probably because of the lower allocation, Germany is focusing on the development of a hydrogen economy. France also plans to invest in decarbonised hydrogen, along with projects to support aeronautics and the development of key markets for green technology. Italy and Spain \u2013 thanks to the increased resources at their own \u2013 foresee significant investments in renewable energies and smart grids, as well as supporting hydrogen projects. Finally, Germany plans to spend more than half of the money it will receive from the EU on digitisation, while the other three countries will spend a quarter or less. In terms of absolute values, Italy plans to spend 42 billion euros on the digital transition, followed by Spain (16 billion euros), Germany (15 billion euros) and France (10 billion euros).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As we have already pointed out, the two main vectors that structure the actions foreseen by the recovery plan are the green economy and the digital transition. As for the first aspect, in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/07f45f77-fbfd-4794-afd3-7b28274a007b\"><em>Financial Times<\/em><\/a> Stephany Griffith-Jones argues that investing in renewable energies means not only investing in the long term, but also an economic boost, a new way of creating jobs and moving towards the goal of a sustainable world. Europe is currently at a crossroads and must decide whether it wants to bet heavily on sustainable companies and lead what could be a real industrial revolution or fall back into the mistakes of the past. Now, it seems that the European Union has opted very strongly for the first of the options. In addition, a <a href=\"https:\/\/resources.unsdsn.org\/transformations-for-the-joint-implementation-of-agenda-2030-the-sustainable-development-goals-and-the-european-green-deal-a-green-and-digital-job-based-and-inclusive-recovery-from-covid-19-pandemic\">report <\/a>by the think tank SDG Academy reveals that there is a need to delve into the environmental aspects of post-pandemic recovery. In fact, the impact of COVID-19 has shown that it is essential to establish a connection between public health and the environmental agenda in public policymaking. It has also pushed EU governments to integrate the SDGs into the European Semester, which represents a real process of coordination and harmonisation of economic and labour policies in the EU. Furthermore, growth and employment measures in Europe are not only related to green energy, but also to the promotion of the circular economy, organic farming and nature-based solutions. In short, the success or failure of NextGeneration will depend on the combination of green and social agendas to avoid consolidating existing&nbsp; fractures and inequalities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, there are also shadows, and both a<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecologistasenaccion.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Guia-Next-Generation-EU-mas-sombras-que-luces.pdf\"> report<\/a> by Ecologists in Action and an article by G\u00e9rard Horny in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.slate.fr\/economie\/comment-va-leconomie-journal-dune-crise\/relance-verte-accord-union-europenne-budget-climat\"><em>Slate<\/em><\/a> warn of the shortcomings and ambiguities of NextGeneration. They warn of the dangers of over-indebtedness and austerity, the concentration of funds in large companies, the fact that the Plan can be a mere <em>greenwashing,<\/em> and the lack of transparency and citizen participation. They also warns that successive cuts in public administrations over the last decade have meant that the necessary means are not available to control properly the destination of funds. It is therefore more than necessary for NGEU to strengthen public structures, providing them with sufficient funding so that they can carry out their work in the general interest. The leading think tank on ecological issues <a href=\"https:\/\/www.e3g.org\/news\/a-recovery-with-green-elements-but-not-a-green-recovery\/\">&nbsp;E3G<\/a>&nbsp; also warns that at least eight member states do not meet the criteria for devoting at least 37% of resources to the green economy. In addition, many Member States are playing with the existing legal limbo, as they plan to allocate large amounts of money to projects on which there are still no studies to determine whether they are harmful to the planet. In short, there are many doubts that many countries are meeting the requirements for accessing the recovery funds, which will be a real test of credibility for the European Union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a report published by<a href=\"https:\/\/www.caixabankresearch.com\/ca\/economia-i-mercats\/sector-public\/ngeu-impuls-molt-oportu-digitalitzacio\"> CaixaBank,<\/a> Cl\u00e0udia Canals and Oriol Carreras Baquer address the impact that NGEU Plan will have on digital transition. Given the importance of investing in intangible assets in the digital impulse, the authors analyse the impact NGEU will have on this kind of investment. In this sense, the investment in digitalization contemplated in the six action plans announced by the Spanish Government for the period 2021-2023 amounts to 16,250 million euros, of which 15,400 will be financed by NGEU. Of this sum, we must exclude the 4.7 billion euros allocated to the Connectivity Plan, the 5G Plan and other investments in ICT equipment, since investment in infrastructure, although crucial for the digitalization of the economy, does not count as an investment in intangibles. In annual terms, NGEU represents a direct investment in intangible assets of almost 3.6 billion per year over the next three years, equivalent to 0.29% of the annual GDP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, Doug Moursay compares in <a href=\"https:\/\/intpolicydigest.org\/could-biden-s-infrastructure-plan-offer-the-eu-a-benchmark-for-digital-investment-packages\/\"><em>International Policy Digest<\/em><\/a> the digital transition plans of the EU and the US, and considers that the key aspects of the project presented at the end of April by Joe Biden could offer a useful reference point for European governments that now decide how to spend their resources on the European recovery fund. President Biden&#8217;s infrastructure plan will allocate $100 billion to digital infrastructure and admits that a deep digital divide, which crosses racial and economic lines, has exacerbated existing inequalities and the impact of COVID-19 on minority and marginalized groups. Fundamentally, it defines broadband Internet access as a basic infrastructure, at the same level of importance as access to electricity and drinking water. NextGeneration refers to the European digital divide in similar terms, albeit with less clarity about the exact amount of investment that the EU and its Member States will allocate to it. In her first State of the European Union address in September 2020, Ursula von der Leyen highlighted the need for a green and digital transition, and promised that 20% of the funds would go to digital investment. This amounts to some EUR 150 billion of the total package of EUR 750 billion, not counting the EUR 149.5 billion allocated to digital innovation as part of the multiannual financial framework 2021-2017, Europe&#8217;s long-term budget for the next six years. The figures are impressive, but it is not clear whether they will be enough to meet the needs of the hundreds of millions of Europeans and Americans who are on the weak side of the digital divide. Therefore, while some American experts wonder whether Biden&#8217;s plan is bold enough, the latest data on Europe show the urgent need for the Commission and member states to think big. According to a recent<a href=\"https:\/\/telecoms.com\/509125\/europe-needs-to-spend-e300-billion-more-on-5g-and-fibre-etno\/\"> study<\/a> by the European Association of Telecommunications Network Operators (ETNO), EU telecom operators should invest 300 billion euros spread between fixed and mobile Internet in the coming years, in order to achieve full coverage of 5G and broadband speeds. The ETNO report makes it clear that to reach this level of investment, significant financial support from policy makers will be needed to facilitate the deployment of 5G and fibre in underserved areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Continuing the comparisons between the US and European responses, analysts, economists, and politicians disagree with his diagnosis of whether the EU should be more ambitious in its stimulus plans. This March, the US administration approved an aid package of 1.9 billion dollars, which is in addition to other aid already agreed in December by the Trump administration worth 900,000 million euros. A short-term stimulus of about three trillion dollars, to which could be added a similar amount in infrastructure investments. The comparison is odious because on a general level it makes it clear that Washington is stepping on the gas more thoroughly and more decisively than the European Union. Thus, an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oecd.org\/economic-outlook\/\">OECD<\/a> report shows that growth in the US will be 6.5% in 2021 and 4% in 2022, while for the EU it will be 3.9% and 4% respectively. While the United States will soon regain its pace of production before the onset of the coronavirus, this will not be the case in the European Union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>NextGeneration Catalonia<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As for the actions planned from Catalonia, we highlight the Economic Recovery and Social Protection Plan approved in July 2020 by the government of the Generalitat under the name of&nbsp; <a href=\"http:\/\/economia.gencat.cat\/web\/.content\/20_departament_gabinet_tecnic\/arxius\/pla-recuperacio-europa\/next-generation-catalonia.pdf\">NextGeneration Catalonia,<\/a> a set of programs designed to align with the 2030 Agenda and the SDG of the United Nations, the European Green Deal and the European Digital Strategy. The main objectives of the Plan are the strengthening of productive capacity and the health and social health system, the reduction of the social inequalities accentuated by COVID-19 and the acceleration of the transition to a more sustainable and resilient economic model. After the approval of the European Recovery Fund, the advisory committee Catalunya\u2013NextGeneration EU was created, which aims to promote the economic transformation projects proposed by the Generalitat de Catalunya, in accordance with a series of prioritization criteria that ensure a greater transformative capacity. The total resources that will be awarded to the Catalan government will be, according to an estimate based on its population weight, 1.7 billion euros from the Recovery and Resilience Facility and 1,366 million euros from the REACT-EU fund, in addition to the Catalan projects that choose to receive funding from State calls. Catalonia has therefore the opportunity to use European funds to address major local and global challenges. To this end, the Generalitat de Catalunya has defined 11 missions or objectives that guide the definition of the NextGeneration Catalonia plan:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1. Equal opportunities<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2. Sustainable economy<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>3. Energy in transformation and the new industry<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>4. Sustainable mobility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>5. Natural environment<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>6. Connectivity<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>7. Technological sovereignty<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>8. Innovation<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>9. Transformation<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>10. Infrastructure<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>11. Competitiveness<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <em>NextGeneration Catalonia<\/em> committee has so far validated 542 projects, divided into five strategic axes: economy for life, ecological transition, digital transition, knowledge society and transversal vector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Espa\u00f1a Puede<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For its part, the Spanish government has also submitted its recovery, transformation and resilience plan under the name of<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lamoncloa.gob.es\/presidente\/actividades\/Documents\/2020\/07102020_PreguntasRespuestasPR.pdf\"> &#8220;Espa\u00f1a Puede&#8221;,<\/a> to meet the objectives set by the European Union and to strengthen and invest in the green economy, the transition to digitalization and ending structural and gender inequalities. The Plan, inspired by the Agenda for Change, the 2030 Agenda and the United Nations SDG, lays on four pillars that should structure the transformation of the economy as a whole: green Spain, digital Spain, Spain without gender gaps and cohesive and inclusive Spain. The Spanish plan relies on ten main policies that will affect those productive sectors with the greatest capacity to transform the economic and social structure:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1. Urban and rural agenda and fight against depopulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2. Resilient infrastructures and ecosystems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>3. Fair and inclusive energy transition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>4. An administration for the 21st century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>5. Modernization and digitalization of the ecosystem of companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>6. Pact for science, innovation, and strengthening of the National Health System.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>7. Education and knowledge, continuous training and capacity building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>8. New economy of care and employment policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>9. Promotion of the culture and sports industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>10. Modernization of the tax system for inclusive and sustainable growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This plan will guide the execution of 72 billion euros of European funds until 2023 and will mobilize in the next three years 50% of the resources that Spain will obtain thanks to NextGeneration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A Plan subject to an exhaustive analysis by the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.realinstitutoelcano.org\/wps\/portal\/rielcano_en\/contenido?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=\/elcano\/elcano_in\/zonas_in\/ari35-2021-feas-steinberg-european-recovery-plan-figures-for-spain\">Real Instituto Elcano <\/a>that highlights that Spain is facing the task of initiating reforms and projects in a climate of high political polarization, without having yet overcome the pandemic. In addition, under the focus of the countries of northern Europe that will audit how European resources are used in the countries of the south. The report considers that the reforms represent the essential elements for Spain to enter a path of sustainable growth. If the funds contribute to the transformation of the Spanish economy and avoid north-south economic divergence in the EU, they could become a permanent piece for the necessary European fiscal union. On the other hand, if the big countries receiving funds do not seize to the occasion, it will be difficult for the others to be prepared to move towards greater integration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the same vein, the analysis by Javier Garc\u00eda Arenas published by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.caixabankresearch.com\/ca\/economia-i-mercats\/sector-public\/pla-recuperacio-despanya-les-muses-al-teatre?986\">CaixaBank<\/a> &nbsp;points out the main characteristics of the reforms in 30 large areas (which, in turn, are deployed in 110 investment projects and 102 reforms). Investments that can be carried out quickly, with broad territorial and sectoral traction and that can generate employment (rehabilitation of homes, electric vehicles, solar panels, charging stations, investments in transport infrastructures&#8230;), are combined with other more transformative investments (hydrogen, batteries, etc.). However, although the plan is based on a correct diagnosis of the main weaknesses that the Spanish economy must address, which coincide with those that have been repeatedly pointed out by the European Commission, in the coming months these good proposals will be given more content, and then it will be time to confirm &nbsp;if the direction &nbsp;taken is the &nbsp;right one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A Spanish plan, which, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esade.edu\/ecpol\/ca\/publicacions\/reformes-governanca\/\">Policy Brief<\/a> published by ESADE, presents great weaknesses in terms of necessary reforms, governance and economic capital. Alberto Aguiar also warns in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.es\/apuesta-ia-plan-recuperacion-espana-desfasada-861299\"><em>Business Insider<\/em><\/a> that many of the projects in the field of new technologies and Artificial Intelligence are quite outdated. Actually although there is a plan to make a study on the impact of mobile Intelligence on privacy, the problem is no longer to analyse the impact of technology, but how to protect privacy in current and future developments of technology. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brusselsreport.eu\/2021\/04\/15\/spains-spending-of-eu-recovery-funds-threatens-to-turn-into-a-top-down-exercise\/\">Brussels Report<\/a> also warns of the risk that NextGeneration could become the new &#8220;Plan E&#8221;, a proposal of the Zapatero government that had to face the financial crisis of 2008 and did not achieve the expected objectives. &nbsp;&nbsp;Germany and France present planswhich do not depend on European funds, giving decision-making power to their regions and <em>L\u00e4nder<\/em> and have been drawn up with the advice of a committee of experts. On the contrary, the Spanish Plan does not provide for any structural reform, has not involved the participation of the autonomous communities and does not contain detailed information on their distribution, which has been carried out without objective or participation criteria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From a critical perspective, Erika Gonz\u00e1lez argues in<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eldiario.es\/opinion\/tribuna-abierta\/espana-fondos-europeos-recuperacion-resiliencia-arrojan-sombras-luces_129_7393633.html\"><em> El Diario<\/em><\/a> that the plan submitted by the Spanish government has more shadows than lights and points out a series of risks on the destination of the European funds. First, the European Union will grant them through the issuance of debt, so the States will have to return the resources allocated to the financial markets over the next 5 to 30 years. We can also expect that the payment formula will return to the same as that applied after the 2008 crisis: structural adjustment plan and labour and pension reforms. On the other hand, the idea is to distribute the money among large companies, without assessing the need to strengthen the public sector or to ensure that economic agents such as SMEs, the self-employed or the social and solidarity economy also receive aid. Another risk is that the type of projects presented by companies and the Autonomous Communities will be oriented towards areas &#8211; such as infrastructures, hydrogen, the digitisation of electricity networks and companies, wind and photovoltaic farms, high-speed train, the extension of 5G, the digitisation of companies, large battery factories and intelligent mobility &#8211; where large unsustainable and environmentally not friendly oil and &nbsp;gas companies&nbsp; abound. &nbsp;&nbsp;Finally, she stresses once again that the elaboration of the <em>&#8220;Espa\u00f1a Puede\u201d<\/em> Plan has been characterized by a lack of transparency, access to information and little political control. Finally, and with regard to the prospects for economic recovery offered by NextGeneration, N\u00faria Mas argues in a seminar organized by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.coleconomistes.cat\/MAILS\/DOCS\/Nota%20de%20premsa%20debat%20fons%20europeus.pdf\">Col\u00b7legi d&#8217;Economistes<\/a> that the promotion of structural reforms could have an even greater impact in the long term than that of &nbsp;investments. Priority structural reforms that Spain should address to take advantage of European funds and that to make it possible would require a comprehensive plan that has as its main axis the improvement of the productivity of the Spanish economy to improve wages and create quality jobs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Now that we are slowly emerging from the most critical phases of the coronavirus pandemic, we are at a crucial moment for post-pandemic economic recovery and the specific nature of the policies that will mark the coming decades. That is why we have decided to dedicate this special issue of the Diari de les idees to the Recovery Plan for Europe known as NextGeneration, and the selection of fifty articles analysing it from different perspectives. The NextGeneration Plan is the European recovery programme designed to overcome the pandemic and transform the economy, create opportunities and jobs through an investment of\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":77128,"template":"","category_newspaper":[320],"segment":[],"subject":[],"class_list":["post-42772","newspaper","type-newspaper","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category_newspaper-320"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Diari de les idees 43 - Special issue NextGeneration EU &#8211; IDEES<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/revistaidees.cat\/en\/analisis\/diari-de-les-idees\/diari-de-les-idees-43-especial-fons-ue-next-generation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Diari de les idees 43 - Special issue NextGeneration EU &#8211; IDEES\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Now that we are slowly emerging from the most critical phases of the coronavirus pandemic, we are at a crucial moment for post-pandemic economic recovery and the specific nature of the policies that will mark the coming decades. That is why we have decided to dedicate this special issue of the Diari de les idees to the Recovery Plan for Europe known as NextGeneration, and the selection of fifty articles analysing it from different perspectives. The NextGeneration Plan is the European recovery programme designed to overcome the pandemic and transform the economy, create opportunities and jobs through an investment of\u2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/revistaidees.cat\/en\/analisis\/diari-de-les-idees\/diari-de-les-idees-43-especial-fons-ue-next-generation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"IDEES\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-06-09T07:06:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/revistaidees.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/next1.jpg?fit=450%2C231&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"231\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"23 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/revistaidees.cat\\\/en\\\/analisis\\\/diari-de-les-idees\\\/diari-de-les-idees-43-especial-fons-ue-next-generation\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/revistaidees.cat\\\/en\\\/analisis\\\/diari-de-les-idees\\\/diari-de-les-idees-43-especial-fons-ue-next-generation\\\/\",\"name\":\"Diari de les idees 43 - Special issue NextGeneration EU &#8211; 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