The past few years have been marked by a strong return of public authorities in economic affairs, and the emergence of new forms of economic activism. From a governance perspective, this has come together with the retour en grâce of planning as a public policy approach. With initiatives such as the Green New Deal or the recovery plan NextGeneration EU, the EU has certainly not been immune to this trend. This article conceptualizes this planning method that is emerging as a novel EU governance technique, and a central vehicle for new European policies. Although not without precursors, the planning method embodies a highly proceduralized, country-specific, bilateral, executive and performance-based governance template, which clearly breaks away from the Union’s traditional approaches to policy making.The planning method opens up new horizons for EU integration, and its benefits in terms of national ownership and policy effectiveness seem quite real. It is also inherently disruptive, and poses new risks, new challenges for the Union and its constitutional foundations, which this article investigates. As a hybrid, “Euronational” phenomenon, the planning method blurs power distribution and responsibility allocation in the EU and stands as an important source of constitutional uncertainty. It rests on a highly technocratic and managerial approach to planning and impacts institutional balances in the EU. It puts pressure on the integrity of the rules, principles and objectives the very pursuance of which it is to promote. Lastly, the planning method also accelerates de facto differentiation in the EU and relativizes the scope of national sovereignty in the Union, raising concerns for State equality.