Next Generation EU and its constitutional ramifications: A critical assessment

Abstract

Following the early turmoil of the COVID-19 pandemic on societies in Europe, the foundations of financing the European Union have been overturned. In this article, we demonstrate the magnitude of change that Next Generation EU (NGEU) creates. While explained as exceptional and justified with reference to the pandemic, in substance, the NGEU is not a crisis measure. It will change the reading of EU law permanently by establishing a new type of instrument for redistribution between the Member States and funding this through debt. This article argues that consensus among large Member States and key institutional stakeholders is insufficient for disregarding key Treaty principles. We scrutinize the regulating capacity of EU constitutional law in relation to that consent and discuss the control of constitutionality by the Court of Justice, the role of national constitutional bodies, and the effect of the package on institutional balance. Finally, the role of EU scholarship is considered in relation to such a profound shift in the EU’s constitutional fabric. COVID-19 pandemic, finance, Next Generation EU, NGEU, crisis measures, debt funding, Treaty principles, constitutionality, role of national constitutional bodies, EU scholarship