The success of the EU recovery fund will depend on bold missions

Professor Mariana Mazzucato (UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose) discusses how the European Council must include a green economy to recover from Covid-19 and details points in her 2018 cross-sector "mission oriented" policy framework, urging the council to be bold. Two weeks ago, the European Council summit concluded with a historic agreement on a recovery fund. It represents a turning point for the EU: for the first time, the bloc will be allowed to borrow on behalf of its member states. The European Commission is now set to raise €750bn on capital markets, to be distributed through €390bn of grants to member states and €360bn of loans. This money is earmarked for the sole purpose of addressing the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. Securing the agreement of 27 member states was not easy, and the outcome is far from perfect, but the real challenges are still to come. The commission must now resist pressure to slide back to doing business as usual.