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Commission issues €9 billion in its fourth syndicated transaction of 2026
The European Commission has raised €9 billion of EU-Bonds in its 4th syndicated transaction for 2026.
The dual-tranche transaction concerned a €3 billion tap of the 3-year EU-Bond, maturing on 12 July 2029, and a €6 billion new 20-year EU-Bond, maturing on 12 October 2046.
Building on the successful pricing of the March syndication against the EU Bond curve, a differentiated pricing strategy was applied across the two maturities, with the 3-year bond priced against the swap curve and the new 20-year bond priced against a reference point in the EU Bond curve. This approach helped mitigate pricing risks for participating investors in the new long maturity tranche and is reflecting the growing liquidity of the EU Bond curve, which can be used as a reliable reference point pricing of syndicated issuances when deemed desirable.
The transaction is part of the Commission's €90 billion funding target for the first half of 2026 (with €61.3 billion issued since January 2026).
These funds will be used to support the European Union's political priorities, including support for a stronger, more competitive and resilient Europe, support to Ukraine and crucial investments in European defence.
The EU's total outstanding debt now stands at about €792.3 billion, of which €36.9 billion in the form of EU-Bills and €80.4 billion in the form of NextGenerationEU Green Bonds.
EU-Bond transactions (syndications and auctions) executed to date in H1 2026 [EUR billion]
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Today's bond syndication 3-year Bond tap A €3 billion tap of the EU-Bond due on 12 July 2029: this bond carries a coupon of 2.375% and came at a re-offer yield of 2.820%, equivalent to a price of 98.648%. The spread to mid-swap is 2 basis points (bps), which is equivalent to 19.5 bps over the Bond due on 12 April 2029 and 6.4 bps below the OAT due 25 May 2029. The final order book was over €54 billion, with oversubscription rate of approximately 18-times. 20-year new Bond A €6 billion new EU-Bond due on 12 October 2046: this bond carries a coupon of 4.000% and came at a re-offer yield of 4.090%, equivalent to a price of 98.787%. The spread to the EU-Bond maturing on 12 October 2045 is 5 bps, which is an equivalent spread to mid-swap of 78.4 bps, and 55.8 bps over the Bund due on 15 August 2046 and 21.4 bps below the OAT due 25 May 2046. The final order book was over €88 billion with an oversubscription rate of approximately 14.7-times. Information on the allocation on the investors in this transaction is available in the transactions section of the EU as a borrower website. The joint lead managers of this transaction were Citi, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Natixis, Nomura. |
Background
The Commission is empowered by the EU Treaties to borrow from the international capital markets on behalf of the European Union to finance selected EU policy programmes. This includes the NextGenerationEU recovery instrument, financial support programmes to Ukraine and other neighbourhood countries as well as the EU's Security Action for Europe – SAFE – instrument, helping EU Member States carry out urgent defence investments through common procurement.
Use of proceeds from EU borrowing operations under different programmes [EUR billion]
EUR outstanding amounts per programme, as of 27 March 2026.
Disclaimer: under the Commission's unified funding approach outstanding disbursements may be different to the amount of outstanding EU-Bonds at a specific point of time)
The Commission uses EU-Bonds and EU-Bills as the main funding instruments to raise funds on capital markets. All issuances executed by the Commission are denominated exclusively in euro. Since January 2023, the EU funds its different policy programmes by issuing single-branded EU-Bonds rather than bonds for individual programmes. The Commission also issues green bonds (under the NextGenerationEU Green Bond label), to finance the green component of the Recovery and Resilience Facility of the NextGenerationEU programme.
The European Commission raises funds using both auctions and syndicated transactions as part of its funding strategy. Auctions allocate EU Bills and Bonds through a competitive bidding process among Primary Dealers, ensuring transparency and cost efficiency. In contrast, syndicated transactions involve a group of Primary Dealers placing bonds directly with investors, allowing for broader investor reach and optimized execution, particularly for large or inaugural deals. The two methods are used in a complementary way to support market access and funding flexibility.
EU borrowing is guaranteed by the EU budget, with contributions to the EU budget an unconditional legal obligation of all Member States under the EU Treaties.
For regular updates on the EU's borrowing and lending activities you can subscribe here to the quarterly investor newsletter.
For more information
Press release on Commission to issue €90 billion in EU-Bonds in the first half of 2026
Factsheet on Budgetary safeguards protecting investor in EU-Bonds and EU-Bills