The COVID-19 pandemic led to a dramatic change in common borrowing by the European Union. With the introduction of SURE (Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency) and NGEU (NextGenerationEU) – programmes unprecedented in size and objectives – the EU shifted from being a small player in the sovereign market to a very significant one. EU debt (a slightly too broad concept, as discussed below) increased in two years from around €50 billion to over €300 billion. […]