NextGenerationEU: el Plan de impulso extraordinario para Europa

La Comisión Europea presentó el pasado 27 de mayo su primera propuesta para un Plan de Recuperación para Europa, que se apoya en dos bloques: un marco presupuestario reforzado de hasta 1,1 billones de euros y un impulso temporal extraordinario, el Plan de Recuperación para Europa o Next Generation EU, para el periodo 2021 y 2026, distribuido entre los países en función de lo afectados que se hayan visto los países durante la crisis, y dotado con 750.000 millones de euros, repartidos en 390.000 millones en transferencias y garantías y 360.000 millones en préstamos.

Finalmente, los días 17 y 21 de julio el Consejo Europeo acordó la creación de este fondo de recuperación de carácter temporal-Next Generation EU, y en esta pasada semana hemos conocido algunas orientaciones estratégicas para la aplicación del Mecanismo de Recuperación y Resiliencia.

Este Plan Next Generation EU está fundamentalmente formado por dos grandes bloques:

El primero centrado en la recuperación mediante la transformación verde y digital (crecer transformando la economía en una economía moderna, sostenible y tecnológica, aportando fondos de investigación, dinero para reformas y proyectos y fondos para la adaptación social al cambio), y estructurado en,
- un Mecanismo de Recuperación y Resiliencia, el programa estrella del plan, por un importe de 672.500 millones de euros (312.500 millones de transferencias y 360.000 millones de préstamos complementarios), para financiar reformas y proyectos de transformación verde y digital.
- Programas Paneuropeos (77.500 millones de euros): InvestEU, de garantías para empresas (5.600MM€); Horizon EU, para la investigación en los ámbitos medioambiental y digital (5.000MM€); Otros fondos de cohesión y estructurales, para cubrir los costes sociales y regionales de transición.
Un segundo bloque vinculado a la autonomía estratégica, tecnológica y sanitaria.

Proyectos emblemáticos

Para acceder a estos recursos del Mecanismo de Recuperación y Resiliencia, los estados miembros deberán diseñar sus Planes de Recuperación y Resiliencia de acuerdo con las recomendaciones específicas que la CE elabora para cada país y que serán evaluados.

España obtendría unos 140.000 millones, de los cuales 72.700 serían a fondo perdido.

La Comisión anima a los Estados miembros a presentar sus anteproyectos de planes a partir del 15 de octubre de 2020, siendo la fecha límite el 30 de abril del 2021, y recomienda incluir en sus planes inversiones y reformas en los siguientes ámbitos emblemáticos:

Activación: Puesta en marcha temprana de tecnologías limpias con perspectivas de futuro y aceleración del desarrollo y el uso de energías renovables.
Renovación: Mejora de la eficiencia energética de los edificios públicos y privados.
Carga y Repostaje: Fomento de tecnologías limpias con perspectivas de futuro a fin de acelerar el uso de un transporte sostenible, accesible e inteligente, de estaciones de carga y repostaje, y la ampliación del transporte público.
Conexión: Despliegue rápido de servicios de banda ancha rápida en todas las regiones y hogares, incluidas las redes de fibra y 5G.
Modernización: Digitalización de la Administración y los servicios públicos, incluidos los sistemas judicial y sanitario.
Ampliación: Aumento de las capacidades industriales europeas en materia de datos en la nube y desarrollo de procesadores de máxima potencia, de última generación y sostenibles.
Reciclaje y Perfeccionamiento Profesionales: Adaptación de los sistemas educativos en apoyo de las competencias digitales y la educación y la formación profesional a todas las edades.

El ‘Documento de trabajo de los servicios de la Comisión: Orientaciones para los Estados miembros en relación con los planes de recuperación y resiliencia’ señala que los Estados miembros deberán explicar en qué medida su plan contribuirá a lograr la neutralidad climática y los objetivos energéticos y climáticos para 2030 contemplados en los planes nacionales de energía y clima, e incluirá un mínimo del 37% del gasto relacionado con este objetivo de clima. Además, este documento propone que cada plan de recuperación y resiliencia incluya un nivel mínimo del 20% de gasto relacionado con la tecnología digital, y muestra una serie de ejemplos de proyectos que encajarían en estos planes:

Recuadro 1: Ejemplos de objetivos que pueden respaldar un componente

Green transition	Reducing greenhouse gas emissions Improving carbon pricing Improving the energy and resource efficiency of public infrastructures Improving energy performance of the building stock through renovation wave Supporting clean energy deployment, notably though renewable energy, smart grid and storage infrastructure Supporting the development and deployment of innovative clean technologies Promoting the circular economy, the sustainable blue economy and bio-economy Increasing the use of sustainable and environmentally friendly transport, Improving environmental infrastructure Reducing waste, improving waste management systems and water management, and reducing pollution Restoration of ecosystems, such as forests, wetlands, peatlands, protection biodiversity and promoting nature-based solutions. Promoting sustainable food production and consumption Greening urban spaces
Digital transition	Deploying very high capacity networks, including fibre and 5G and 6G Ensuring Gigabit connectivity for socio-economic drivers Digitalising public administration and public services Strengthening digital skills, reducing digital divide Digitalisation of businesses Digitalising key sectors (e.g. energy, health, transport, education, media and training) Improving the cyber resilience of key sectors and companies Developing and deploying advanced digital technologies and secure connectivity
Sectoral policies	Fostering research and innovation Strengthening competition & regulatory framework Improving access to finance Measures to improve the resilience of key sectors of the economy Developing local capital markets Ensuring food safety
Business environment	Improving the business environment, especially for SMEs, and innovation ecosystems Increasing the effectiveness of the justice system Strengthening the insolvency framework Measures to reduce private indebtedness Removing unnecessary and unjustified regulatory and non-regulatory barriers to the Single market for goods and services Strengthening administrative capacity for law enforcement
Labour market, education, health and social policies	Upskilling and reskilling of the working age population Reducing labour market segmentation Improving coverage of short-time work schemes and unemployment benefits Ensuring equality for all and inclusion of persons with disabilities in accordance with obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with disabilities, Improving labour market participation, including vulnerable groups Improving the resilience, accessibility and effectiveness of health and care systems, their accessibility and their crisis preparedness Strengthening social protection (including long-term care) Strengthening the link between education and training and the labour market Developing skills for green and digital
Public finances and taxation	Improving revenue collection Reducing the tax burden on labour in a budget neutral way Broadening tax bases / greening tax bases Fighting against tax evasion Improving tax administration Tackling tax avoidance Spending reviews
Public administration	Improving the quality and effectiveness of public administration; Reducing administrative burden; Making the public administration a facilitator for innovation; Ensuring high quality and modern management; Reducing risks of mismanagement and corruption; Improving the effective management of public funds Ensuring that civil servants have the right skills to deal with the digital and green transition

Recuadro 2: Ejemplos no exhaustivos de reformas e inversiones típicas vinculadas a las transiciones verde y digital

Green transition:

Renovation wave of residential buildings, social and affordable housing, private or public buildings (with a focus on schools and hospitals), modernisation of district heating systems and land restoration.
Decarbonisation of industry, investments in energy efficiency in the industry sector and SMEs, supporting innovation, competitiveness of their value chains and reform programmes.
Development of renewable energy capacities (including infrastructure) and other clean energy technologies (including renewable hydrogen and support to the uptake of these technologies, notably by SMEs), efficient district heating and cooling systems, power, fostering energy efficiency and carbon neutrality of industry, resilient smart grid and storage infrastructure.
Investments in smart and sustainable mobility, such as the promotion of smart, safe and clean collective transport, development of waterborne and rail infrastructures, including the European rail signaling system (ERTMS).
Stimulate agro-ecological approaches to farming and scale up investments leading to increased “green value added” processing by primary producers that would make the agricultural sector more resilient throughout the supply chain.
Investments to support the climate-proofing of European forest, infrastructure and land, as well as the creation and restoration of land-based carbon sinks.
Participation in financing initiatives to develop alternative energy sources such as renewable energy and renewable-based hydrogen, investments in charging infrastructure or other elements for reduction of transport-related emissions, insofar as these are cost effective and/ or of strategic importance.
Investments in waste (prevention and management) and water (re-use) infrastructure as well as environmental services for marginalised communities.
Investments in circular economy and the bio-economy (industrial symbiosis sites; incentivising circular business models and resources efficient production as well as activities based on service instead of ownership, repair and reuse activities; support of tools aimed at increasing sustainable consumption).

Investments in sustainable food production and consumption in line with objectives set out in the Farm to Fork Strategy.
Investment in smart and sustainable mobility projects, in the whole battery value chain (from material to recycling), in renewable hydrogen technology, in sustainable alternative transport fuels.
Mitigating measures for vulnerable households accompanying investments to improve the energy efficiency of public and private housing. Investments in heating systems and social housing
Investments in upgrading skills in construction and other relevant sectors; curricula reforms, setting up graduate tracking systems and modular vocational education and training programmes.
Investments in biodiversity and nature-based solutions to increase resilience against natural disasters and climate change (restoration of ecosystems such as forests, wetlands, peatlands, free-flowing rivers and coastal ecosystems; improving infrastructure in protected areas and investing in nature-tourism; planting trees; greening urban spaces).

Digital transition:

Investments in secure networks and other infrastructures to address market failures, bridge the digital divide and reach the EU’s 2025 connectivity objectives, in line with National Broadband Plans, to enable businesses, in particular SMEs, as well as all households, including in rural areas, to participate safely in the digital economy.
Investments to address market failures and reinforce the EU’s open strategic autonomy and cybersecurity/cyber-resilience notably for the critical sectors of components and enabling technologies, for example by acquiring and improving access to advanced high performance computing (including quantum) and cybersecurity.
Financing of digital skills and education programmes either for the labour force, students, citizens or the public sector. Upgrading education and training digital infrastructures and equipment (connectivity and digital devices); as well as teachers training in the use of ICT for teaching.
Supporting small companies to reposition themselves after the pandemic in a more digital ecosystem with digital tools that respect European values and taking into account cybersecurity needs; and supporting the development of business models and skills to enable their organisational structures to keep pace securely and sustainably.
Funding of Digital Innovation Hubs to support digitisation of industry and the public sector, including justice systems.
Collective or synchronized investments in local, national and cross-border secure digital platforms and data spaces, and for businesses in the European Strategy for Data.
Investments in the development and maintenance of infrastructures and databases for interoperable digital public services and their integration with the Once-Only principle infrastructure.
Funding of material tracking systems and databases (i.e. product passport type information) to facilitate handling of materials and substances along the value chain and feed back to production processes.
Supporting the development, uptake and upgrade of Electronic Health Records and interoperability, as well as promoting tele-health, including tele-medicine, telemonitoring, m-health, virtual consultation models. Enabling the secondary use of health data for research and policymaking.