From crisis to recovery
The work of the Council and the European Council in 2020
Lockdown, social distancing, masks, teleworking, video conferences: 2020 has been a year like no other. It is a year that will be remembered for the COVID-19 (coronavirus) global pandemic that has shaken our societies and our economies to the core and unleashed a crisis of an unprecedented scale.
A new president of the European Council, Charles Michel, and a newly inaugurated European Commission took office on 1 December 2019. They set out their ambitions and got to work on what was a pressing priority: reaching agreement on the long-term EU budget for 2021-2027, the basis for all EU policies and programmes to come, in particular the climate and digital transitions.
Only days into the Croatian presidency of the Council, which started on 1 January, crisis management became the top shared priority. The future of the EU budget took on a whole new dimension as the scale of the recovery effort needed became clearer in the spring. 'Recovery' would be the leitmotiv of all legislative and policy work under the German presidency in the second part of the year, with the motto “Together for Europe’s recovery”.
This visual story reviews some of the work of the Council and the European Council over the past year, and how it helped steer the EU from crisis to recovery.
COVID-19 pandemic
A crisis response
From the early days of the pandemic, the EU took action to tackle the crisis. It put in place measures to protect citizens’ health while mobilising the EU budget, enabling maximum flexibility in the application of budget and state aid rules and establishing an emergency support package for workers, businesses and member states.
In December 2019, the Chinese municipality of Wuhan experienced an outbreak of COVID-19, a new type of coronavirus. The disease quickly spread to other regions and by January 2020, isolated cases had appeared in some EU member states.
Integrated crisis response
To respond to the COVID-19 outbreak, on 28 January 2020, the Croatian presidency of the Council decided to activate the EU's integrated political crisis response mechanism (IPCR) in information sharing mode. IPCR is the EU framework for the high-level political coordination of responses to cross-sectoral crises, led by the Council presidency.
At the end of February 2020, Italy reported a significant increase in COVID-19 cases concentrated in the northern regions of the country. Most other EU member states started reporting cases of people infected. By March 2020, all EU member states had reported COVID-19 cases, and the number of cases continued to increase.
A coordinated EU response
Health, diplomacy, civil protection, the single market, the economy: as the situation evolved and the number of sectors affected by the crisis increased, the presidency escalated the activation of the IPCR mechanism to full mode on 2 March 2020. The full activation mode allows for crisis roundtables with the participation of national and EU-level authorities. On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic.
In particular, the EU’s response to the pandemic in 2020 aimed to:
- limit the spread of the virus with temporary and regularly reviewed restrictions to non-essential travel to the EU
- ensure provision of medical equipment, entrusting its civil protection mechanism to mobilise supplies
- support jobs, businesses and the economy, with a €540 billion support package, including temporary support to mitigate unemployment risks in an emergency (SURE)
- help EU citizens stranded abroad, with a coordinated repatriation effort
- promote research for treatments and vaccines, increasing support and funding for research and development
- fight disinformation with timely, fact-based and transparent communication
As the situation evolved, the Council focused on ensuring safe travel within the EU, with a coordinated approach to travel measures, testing strategies and the use of rapid antigen tests.
A global crisis response
From the outset of the pandemic, the EU directly contributed to the WHO's global response and stepped up its support to countries in need. At the same time, the EU led global efforts to make a safe and effective vaccine against COVID-19 available to all, including in less wealthy nations.
With its Team Europe approach, the EU and its member states have reached out to help other countries, providing humanitarian support and strengthening the response capabilities of their healthcare systems. The EU has also been helping its neighbourhood and enlargement countries, with an additional €3 billion to help them cope with the pandemic’s economic impact.
Recovery
An opportunity for transformation
With crisis comes opportunity. In July 2020, EU leaders agreed a €1.8 trillion package, combining the long-term EU budget for 2021-2027, and an extraordinary €750 billion recovery effort, the Next Generation EU. The agreement paves the way for the EU to boost its climate and digital transitions.
As the world came to a standstill, the true size of the recovery effort needed to lead Europe out of the slump became evident. It was also clear that the recovery would require a joint effort at EU level: EU leaders decided to work towards establishing a recovery fund.
The proposal, a recovery plan for Europe, was presented by the European Commission on 27 May 2020.
A landmark deal
On 21 July 2020, after a marathon five-day summit, under the strictest COVID-19 measures, EU leaders agreed on a comprehensive package of €1.8 trillion. This combines the €1 074.3 billion long-term EU budget for 2021-2027 and an extraordinary €750 billion recovery effort, the Next Generation EU (NGEU).
In many ways, this was a landmark deal. Not only for the sheer size of the new, additional fund, but also its financing mode. The European Commission will be authorised to borrow funds on behalf of the EU on the capital markets up to the amount of €750 billion (in 2018 prices). The EU has borrowed before, on behalf of and as a loan to its member states, but this is the first time that the EU will borrow, and provide up to €390 billion funding in the form of grants. What’s the difference? Loans have to be paid back, grants do not.
As the world came to a standstill, the true size of the recovery effort needed to lead Europe out of the slump became evident. It was also clear that the recovery would require a joint effort at EU level: EU leaders decided to work towards establishing a recovery fund.
The proposal, a recovery plan for Europe, was presented by the European Commission on 27 May 2020.
A landmark deal
On 21 July 2020, after a marathon five-day summit, under the strictest COVID-19 measures, EU leaders agreed on a comprehensive package of €1.8 trillion. This combines the €1 074.3 billion long-term EU budget for 2021-2027 and an extraordinary €750 billion recovery effort, the Next Generation EU (NGEU).
In many ways, this was a landmark deal. Not only for the sheer size of the new, additional fund, but also its financing mode. The European Commission will be authorised to borrow funds on behalf of the EU on the capital markets up to the amount of €750 billion (in 2018 prices). The EU has borrowed before, on behalf of and as a loan to its member states, but this is the first time that the EU will borrow, and provide up to €390 billion funding in the form of grants. What’s the difference? Loans have to be paid back, grants do not.
Resilience, climate and digital
With the perspective of massive European investment over the next seven years, EU leaders saw the opportunity to renew rather than rebuild. On top of strengthening the EU’s resilience by taking advantage of COVID-19 lessons learned, the priority is to transform Europe, pushing forward the digital and climate transitions.
As new policy orientations on the single market, industry, space, and of course digital Europe were discussed in the Council, the link between the recovery and the 'twin transition' was highlighted across the board. With close to 20% of the recovery fund earmarked for digital transformation, 30% of total EU expenditure for targeted climate-related projects, and digital and climate priorities were mainstreamed across all EU funding programmes.
Increased ambition
Towards a climate-neutral EU
To meet the objective of a climate-neutral EU by 2050, the EU needs to increase its ambition for the coming decade and update its climate and energy policy framework. The European Council endorsed a binding EU target of a net domestic reduction of at least 55% in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
It was before COVID-19 restrictions and social distancing requirements kicked in. The Croatian presidency invited climate activist Greta Thunberg to address the EU’s environment ministers on behalf of the Fridays for Future movement. She urged the EU to be more ambitious in its climate targets.
Fast forward to 10 December 2020. EU leaders agreed that to meet the objective of a climate-neutral EU by 2050 in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement, the EU needs to increase its ambition for the coming decade and update its climate and energy policy framework.
The European Council endorsed a binding EU target of a net domestic reduction of at least 55% in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 1990, up 15% from the 2014 target. With this ambitious climate policy, EU leaders want to:
- spur sustainable economic growth
- create jobs
- deliver health and environmental benefits for EU citizens
- contribute to EU competitiveness by promoting green innovation
The first EU climate law
On 17 December, EU environment ministers agreed a position on the first European climate law, marking an important step in the legislative process which aims to result in the official adoption of the law.
It was before COVID-19 restrictions and social distancing requirements kicked in. The Croatian presidency invited climate activist Greta Thunberg to address the EU’s environment ministers on behalf of the Fridays for Future movement. She urged the EU to be more ambitious in its climate targets.
Fast forward to 10 December 2020. EU leaders agreed that to meet the objective of a climate-neutral EU by 2050 in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement, the EU needs to increase its ambition for the coming decade and update its climate and energy policy framework.
The European Council endorsed a binding EU target of a net domestic reduction of at least 55% in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 1990, up 15% from the 2014 target. With this ambitious climate policy, EU leaders want to:
- spur sustainable economic growth
- create jobs
- deliver health and environmental benefits for EU citizens
- contribute to EU competitiveness by promoting green innovation
The first EU climate law
On 17 December, EU environment ministers agreed a position on the first European climate law, marking an important step in the legislative process which aims to result in the official adoption of the law.
Climate diplomacy
But the climate transition requires global action. In January, the Foreign Affairs Council identified the climate as one of the priorities for EU external policy, putting forward its proposals for climate diplomacy. Figures published by the Council in October show that the EU and its member states remain the largest provider of public climate finance in the world, with €21.9 billion provided in 2019, a 7.4% increase compared to 2018.
The European Council of December called upon all other parties of the Paris Agreement, in particular major economies, to come forward with their own ambitious targets and policies.
A global partner
The EU playing its part in the world
As the outbreak of COVID-19 revealed, multilateral cooperation is more necessary than ever. The COVID-19 pandemic showed once again that global challenges can be tackled and overcome only through global, coordinated action.
In 2020, the EU has continued to work closely with its neighbours and global partners, including international organisations such as the United Nations (UN) or the WHO.
75th anniversary of the UN
The year 2020 marks a special anniversary for the United Nations: 75 years since the signing of the UN Charter in San Francisco.
The Council adopted the EU priorities for the UN and the 75th UNGA (September 2020 - September 2021) in July 2020, focusing on championing multilateralism and a strong and effective UN that delivers for all.
The EU's focus is on key priorities, such as human rights and gender equality, promoting peace and security, fair globalisation, accelerating the global transition towards a sustainable and climate-neutral future, and leading the transition to a new digital world. Ensuring respect for international humanitarian law and humanitarian principles will remain equally important.
Human rights
On 17 November 2020, the Council approved an EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy 2020-2024, which set out the EU’s level of ambition and priorities in this field in its relations with all third countries. As part of the action plan, on 7 December, the EU adopted a new regime to tackle serious human rights violations and abuses worldwide.
For the first time, the EU has a framework that will allow it to target individuals, entities and bodies – including state and non-state actors – responsible for, involved in or associated with serious human rights violations and abuses worldwide, no matter where they occur. It will be for the Council, acting upon a proposal from a member state or from the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, to establish, review and amend the sanctions list.
This regime comes on top of the existing sanctions tool which is part of broader EU foreign policy measures to support peace, democracy and the rule of law. In 2020, targeted sanctions were issued, for example, in response to the fraudulent nature of presidential elections in Belarus and the violent repression and intimidation of peaceful demonstrators, opposition members and journalists.
Future EU-UK relations
It is probably one of the most publicised pictures of the Council in 2020: the image of the UK flag being removed from the Council building on 31 January 2020. The ensuing negotiations on a post-Brexit trade deal continued for the rest of the year, up until the very last possible deadline, to outline the trade relationship for the future.
Trade
Moving beyond the continent, the EU signed its first significant bilateral trade deal with China. It will ensure that 100 EU agri-food geographical indications such as Mozzarella di Bufala Campana, Languedoc wine, Polska Wódka or Elia Kalamatas are protected on the Chinese market. Likewise, 100 Chinese products will be protected in the EU, thereby ensuring mutual respect of the best of both agricultural traditions. The agreement also includes a mechanism to add more geographical indications in the future.
The Council also gave the green light to a free trade agreement between the EU and Vietnam, which entered into force on 1 August 2020. It is the second EU trade agreement with a Southeast Asian country, after Singapore. Over a 10 year period, the agreement will eliminate duties on 99% of goods and make it easier for European companies to do business in the country, which has a population close to 100 million. The economic benefits go hand in hand with guarantees of respect for labour rights, environment protection and the Paris Agreement on climate.
Looking forward
New hopes for 2021
As the year comes to an end, the news of the approval of a vaccine against COVID-19 by the European Medicines Agency on 21 December brings new hope for 2021.
With the EU’s budget and recovery plan agreed, work can now start to support the EU in its renewal over the years to come.
Here is a selection of stories and background information to learn more about the work of the Council in 2020.
Photo credits
All photographs are copyright European Union, except:
- Solar panel array: Adobe Stock, used under licence to Harpoon Productions
First published on 22 December 2020
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