Corporate DispatchPro KEITH ZAHRA
EU Budget: what’s in it for Europe and Malta European Union leaders reached a deal on a package of measures to boost their economies after the coronavirus pandemic, agreeing to borrow and spend hundreds of billions of euros in the next few years and pay them back from new taxes.
GRANTS AND CHEAP LOANS Key to the deal is a new element in EU policy making: the European Commission will borrow massively on the market and then grant much of the cash, rather than lend it, to countries most in need of economic stimulus. EU leaders agreed the Commission would cheaply borrow €750 billion using its triple-A rating. Of that, it would disburse €390 billion in grants and €360 billion in cheap loans. REPAYMENT MEASURES The grants force the bloc to generate cash to repay the borrowing by 2058. Leaders agreed that: • Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands would lose their current rebate on the amount of VAT they pass on to the EU. • EU countries will impose a tax on non-recycled plastic and pass on the proceeds to EU coffers. • From 2023 there would be a tax on goods imported into the EU from countries with lower carbon emissions standards than the bloc. • Other financing options available include a tax on financial transactions and extending the emissions trading system to maritime and aviation sectors.
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