MFF and NGEU timelines

The 2021-2027 MFF is accompanied by the Next Generation EU (NGEU), a €750 billion temporary recovery instrument aimed at helping repair the immediate economic and social damage brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. There are many novel budgetary aspects related to the NGEU and they are bound to influence the frame of communication and perception of the EU budget. The long-term communication and perception impact would depend on how the NGEU performs. One communication challenge related to the NGEU is its cycle. As seen in Figure 3, although the start of the NGEU is aligned with the 2021-2027 MFF, it only lasts until 2023. This non-alignment of the end dates, necessary as it is, creates confusion in comparing the amounts of money allocated to the NGEU and the 2021-2027 MFF. In addition, there is a difference between commitments and the actual payments under these programmes. While the commitments need to be made within the above-mentioned periods, payments for the MFF can be made until 2030 and for the NGEU – until 2026. This is another layer of complication that challenges the relevant communication.