One of the key numbers for the SSA bond market is the EU’s borrowing need, published twice a year. The borrower has become one of the largest in the market, issuing €160bn of bonds in 2025, with a similar amount expected in 2026.
It anticipates €700bn of funding needs between 2025 and 2030 in support of the various programmes it funds, including for NextGenerationEU. Now it has a new one: a €150bn instrument, which will disburse money to member states for defence in 2026.
Siegfried Ruhl (pictured), hors classe adviser to the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Budget, and Balazs Ujvari, Commission spokesperson for budget and administration, spoke to GlobalCapital’s Ralph Sinclair about the issuer’s path ahead in the bond market.
Ralph Sinclair,
December 18, 2025