This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.
The European Commission has announced its intention to issue up to €90 billion of EU-Bonds in the first half of 2026, bringing outstanding EU-Bonds close to €800 billion by the end of June 2026.
The proceeds will be used to fund loans to EU Member States under the NextGenerationEU programme as well as loans to support the procurement of defence related capabilities under the new Security Action for Europe (SAFE) instrument. Other policy programmes such as the Ukraine Facility, the Reform and Growth Facility for the Western Balkans and Macro Financial Assistance loans to neighbouring countries will also be financed by EU borrowing.
The Commission will carry out all issuance under its now well-established unified funding approach, using a mix of long term and short-term instruments, with semi-annual funding plans to communicate target issuance volumes based on evolving financing needs. This approach enables the Commission to finance funding needs under existing programmes and includes the flexibility to respond to additional needs. Subject to Member States’ notification and validation of climate-relevant expenditures in line with the NextGenerationEU Green Bond Framework, the Commission will also continue to issue NextGenerationEU Green Bonds to finance the green component of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).
To date, €78 billion have been raised through issuance of NextGenerationEU Green Bonds.
Background
The Commission borrows on international capital markets on behalf of the EU and disburses the funds to Member States and third countries under various borrowing programmes. EU borrowing is guaranteed by the EU budget, and contributions to the EU budget are an unconditional legal obligation of all Member States under the EU Treaties.
On the basis of EU-Bonds and NextGenerationEU Green Bonds issued since mid-2021, the Commission has so far disbursed over €362 billion in grants and loans to the EU Member States under the Recovery and Resilience Facility. Up to €76 billion have been allocated to other EU programmes benefitting from NextGenerationEU funding.
Over €21 billion have been disbursed to Ukraine under the Ukraine Facility that will finance up to €33 billion in loans to Ukraine between 2024 and 2027.
The above complements the €18 billion support under the Macro-financial Assistance+ in 2023 and €18 billion of EU exceptional Macro Financial assistance to be repaid with proceeds from immobilised Russian State assets as part of the G7-led Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration (ERA) loans initiative, that was fully disbursed in 2025.
EU borrowing is also set to finance the new Security Action for Europe (SAFE) instrument to finance the procurement of defence related capabilities through loans to Member States. With 19 Member States having expressed demand, exceeding the maximum amount of loans available (€150 billion by end-2030), disbursements under SAFE will start in the coming months as Member State plans and loan agreements are approved. On 3 December 2025 the Commission presented its proposals for the financing of new loans to Ukraine for 2026-2027, which are currently under discussion.
Any new borrowing arising from the adoption of those proposals will be met using the full range of funding instruments in money markets and capital markets under the EU’s diversified funding strategy, and will be organised so that markets are informed in a timely manner.
To support financing needs and ensure continued access to capital markets on favourable terms, the Commission is continuously enhancing the structure and the delivery of its borrowing operations. Since January 2023, the Commission has been issuing single branded EU-Bonds rather than separately labelled bonds for individual programmes, structured in semi-annual funding plans and pre-announced issuance windows.
To support the secondary market liquidity of EU-Bonds, the Commission introduced in November 2023 a framework incentivising EU Primary Dealers to provide quotes on EU securities on electronic platforms.
In addition, the Commission introduced a repurchase facility in early autumn 2024. Building on the enhanced role of EU-Bond and Bill auctions, particularly following the introduction of 3-leg auctions in the first half of 2025, the Commission also introduced in autumn 2025 non-competitive auction allocations to increase participation by EU Primary Dealers and investors placing orders through them.
In addition to EU-Bonds issuance, the Commission engages in short-term liquidity management operations to manage upcoming funding needs.
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