#EU leaders agree on $2.1 trillion budget, coronavirus recovery fund

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel look at documents during an EU summit in Brussels yesterday.
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Leaders agreed on a $857.3 billion recovery fund — which the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, has been tasked to raise on capital markets on behalf of all 27 countries — an unprecedented act of solidarity.

That’s coupled with a $1.2 trillion budget aimed at repairing the continent’s deepest recession since World War II after the coronavirus outbreak crippled economies.

“This agreement sends a concrete signal that Europe is a force for action,” jubilant Summit chairman Charles Michel told reporters upon reaching the accord.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who pushed for the deal along with German Chancellor Angela Markel, called it a historic action.

Following news of the deal, world shares climbed to their highest since February and the euro briefly hit its strongest since March.

Germany Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said that the agreement bolstered the chances of “a cautious, slow recovery” in the second half of this year.

However, the deal came at the cost of cuts to proposed investment in climate-friendly funds — and the conditions for disbursements to countries such as Hungary and Poland, seen as breaching democratic values, have not been outlined.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, European Council President Charles Michel, French President Emmanuel Macron and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen participate in a roundtable discussion.

EPA/Stephanie Lecocq/Pool

European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel bump elbows at the end of the news conference in Brussels today.

Stephanie Lecocq/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

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In addition, the Netherlands led a group of so-called frugal states — along with Austria, Sweden, Denmark and Finland — insisting that aid to Italy, Spain and other Mediterranean countries heavily hit by the pandemic should mainly be disbursed in loans, rather than non-repayable grants.

“There were a few clashes, but that’s all part of the game,” said Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said, who described a warm relationship with his Italian counterpart, Giuseppe Conte.

With Post wires