The article explores the biases of European Economic governance in times of crises and their distributional consequences for national budget structures in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic response effort. Building on the lessons from the Great Recession and sovereign debt crisis the analysis highlights where fiscal constraints hit at home during times economic downturn within the Eurozone, identifying the policy areas that may run the risk of being left behind in the negative cycle. While the pandemic context and resulting downturn pose undoubtedly unprecedented challenges for national budgets and society, in a likewise regulatory context that has no parallel in the history of the EMU, Member States track record of fiscal choices offers some indication of the distributive budgetary consequences of Covid-19. At the same time, the novel common instruments under the framework of Next Generation EU (NGEU) orients domestic pandemic recovery efforts under the (National Recovery and Resilience Plans (NRRPs) toward common policy goals. The analysis considers where the growth, social, green and digital prescriptions of NGEU fit in crisis budgetary dynamics uncovering remaining gaps and their broader societal implications. The article contributes to the literature of the EMU in times of crisis bringing some preliminary insight on the case of the Covid-19 European response in shaping and re-orienting national budgetary choices.