Tracking EU creditors, Ursula’s shaky architectural movement, and the bill of war
Follow the Money EU
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In this edition:
Following the EU’s creditors: not so easy
Follow the Money has written extensively about the EU’s COVID-19 recovery fund with our pan-European #RecoveryFiles network. Our focus has mostly been on the recipients of the stimulus package, but we are also keen to uncover where the money comes from. Who exactly owns the EU bonds that finance this fund? Do we owe a lot to China, once the largest foreign holder of US debt, or perhaps Russia?
The European Commission publishes data on the geographical origin of bond buyers when they are issued, but does not keep track of subsequent trades or identify who ultimately gets to own the debt papers.
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Unhelpfully, the Commission’s categorisation also varies. Some data provides figures on the share of bond buyers from for example Germany, Austria and Switzerland together, and sometimes from each country separately. “Due to confidentiality reasons, we are not entitled to reveal more granular information,” the Commission told Remy Koens and Peter Teffer of Follow the Money.
They tried looking into the Bloomberg Terminal, which Follow the Money can afford access thanks to our paying subscribers . This gave them more anecdotal details. They learned, for example, that the US investment company Vanguard owned at least 445 million euros in EU debt, while Blackrock owned 209 million euros.
However, the total dataset available on Bloomberg only consisted of bonds worth 3.4 billion euros – not even 1 percent of the total outstanding debt of 361 billion euros. This is because bond ownership data on the Terminal is submitted voluntarily, leading to potential selection bias and an insufficient sample size for meaningful analysis and general assumptions.
For now it seems, we’ve reached a dead end. But we’re eager for fresh ideas on where to dig next – so if you have any, send them to Peter.Teffer@ftm.eu
In case you missed it: our recent publications on EU related matters
The shaky foundations of Ursula von der Leyens Bauhaus ambitions
During a much-anticipated speech outlining priorities for her term in office, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen promised to launch a new movement: the “New European Bauhaus”. It was supposed to be a grassroots initiative focussing on art and architecture. But four years later, hopes and expectations remain largely unfulfilled. Now, as the head of the EU executive seeks to expand the project in her second term, FTM’s Simon Van Dorpe investigated: what, exactly, is the New European Bauhaus, and why has it failed to gain much traction? Dive into his investigation here .
The bill of war
With all the devastating violence currently going on in the Middle East, it seems a bit strange to talk about the costs. But because Brussels responds in such an exemplary way to the damage that Israel causes to EU-funded facilities in the West Bank, our colleagues Alexander Fanta and Emma du Chatinier investigated the money involved and the diplomatic dances regarding these destructions. Discover their intriguing exposé here .