EU support to Ukraine is changing the rules of macro-financial assistance

Key Points

• The EU has decided to borrow and lend €18 billion to support the Ukrainian government in 2023 and is working on a larger facility for the coming years.

• To implement this support, several rules that governed EU Macro-Financial Assistance to third countries have been set aside.

• EU loans to Ukraine are directly secured against the EU budget and include several subsidies.

• The MFA+’s new structure has few immediate effects for the financing or accountability of the EU’s lending, but it might prove a challenge to the EU’s credit rating if the facility is expanded