After marathon talks, EU member states have agreed to a historic coronavirus recovery deal. Disagreements concerning access to the aid package had turned the negotiations into one of the bloc’s longest-ever summits. EU leaders agreed early Tuesday to an unprecedented €1.8 trillion ($2 trillion) aid and budget deal aimed at helping hard-hit bloc members recover from the economic fallout of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The package includes a €750-billion fund to be sent as loans and grants, as well as a seven-year €1 trillion EU budget. European Council President Charles Michel tweeted a brief message minutes after leaders adopted the plan: “Deal!”
“We did it. Europe is strong, Europe is united. This is a good deal, this is a strong deal and most importantly this is the right deal for Europe right now,” Michel said. “I believe this agreement will be seen as a pivotal moment for Europe’s journey.” The breakthrough comes after more than four days of wrangling, with talks often stretching into the early hours.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen thanked German Chancellor Angela Merkel for “steering” negotiations towards a European solution. Europe as a whole has now a big change to come out stronger from the crisis. Today we have taken a historic step that we can all be proud of,” said von der Leyen. “Tonight is a big step toward recovery.”
Merkel described the agreement as an “important signal,” and said she was “very relieved” that EU leaders were able to cooperate. It was good “that we pulled ourselves together in the end,” she said. That sentiment was echoed by French President Emmanuel Macron, who called it a “historic day for Europe.”
“There is no such thing as a perfect world, but we have made progress,” said Macron. However, the European Parliament will still have to agree to the package. Negotiations were bogged down by major disagreements concerning grants, loans and whether economic and financial reforms should dictate access to the funds. The 27 member states had been largely divided into two camps. Germany and France spearheaded efforts to collectivize debt in order to raise much-needed funds for countries such as Italy and Spain, which bore the brunt of the pandemic in the EU.
In the other camp, the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark and Sweden — the so-called frugal four — together with Finland had called for a strings-attached approach that would have made access to funds conditional on tough market reforms. That camp also support stringent measures that would have blocked funding for countries that did not adhere to EU rules on the rule of law.
That could have jeopardized funding for countries such as Hungary and Poland who are the target of a European Commission investigation over rule of law violations. EU nations have struggled to coordinate a response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed some 135,000 lives on the continent. The bloc’s economy is projected to contract by 8.3% this year.
Source: DW
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