Our article focuses on the most significant developments after the EU's decision-making moments on NGEU and the vaccines roll-out, contextualized with citizens' support for the EU. NGEU and Vaccines Strategy in the Wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Outgrowing the Regulatory State Yet, after the July 2020 decision on the Next Generation EU (NGEU) - an extraordinary supranational fiscal instrument to support EU countries get back on track following the economic crisis prompted the COVID-19 pandemic - public opinion became more favourable to the EU (Armingeon I et al i ., 2022). This shift upwards in southern Europe is partly related to the EU's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular NGEU, but also the EU vaccines strategy.