EU locked and loaded for SURE curtain-raiser

摘要

After months of speculation and a four-week postponement, the European market is about to see the emergence of what will be the biggest force in the region's capital markets in the coming years with the EUROPEAN UNION finally bringing its inaugural SURE issuance. The European Commission, via the EU, is expected to embark on a funding spree as soon as this week which will see the issuer raise at least €87.4bn of social bonds under its SURE programme by the end of 2021 and another €800bn between 2021 and the end of 2026 under its Next Generation EU programme. Europe has never seen an increase in issuance of such scale with the programmes set to transform the EU from a rarely seen borrower to a bond market behemoth. And while it is not quite the jointly and severally liable Eurobonds that arch Europhiles have been dreaming of, it is as close to them as can be. The Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency - or SURE -programme is the first part of a larger package in response to the Covid-19 pandemic which could reach €900bn. To put the scale of the increase into perspective, the EU has raised just €500m year-to-date and only printed €400m in 2019.