The Own Resources Decision (ORD) & EU public finances

In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, followed by the Russsian invasion of Ukraine, the
EU’s public finances are undergoing a transformation process, both in terms of
expenditures and revenues. The classic Multiannual Financial Framework has been
reinforced with a specific additional Fund (Next Generation EU), which represents a
significant volume of public spending. Its centrepiece is the Recovery and Resiliency
Facility, now amended by the REPowerEU Regulation. To finance this fund the
European Commission is borrowing on the capital markets on behalf of the EU. The
need to finance this European public debt may well be the definitive impetus for new
EU taxes. This tax reform is not easy due to the unanimity rule, among other factors;
but it reflects a very important change within the EU, both in its own fiscal policy and
that of the states, and it also implies a strategic reconfiguration of the EU, which is yet
to be defined.