Only in the night from Monday to Tuesday the participants of the extraordinary EU summit, which according to the original plan of the organizers was to end on Saturday, after a long verbal battles failed to agree on aid to countries affected by the pandemic.
the EU Leaders finally struck a deal with an unprecedented budget of 1.8 trillion Euro and a recovery Fund coronaviruses after four days of intense debate.
To counter the largest recession in its history, the EU will create a Fund to overcome consequences of the epidemic of the coronavirus volume of 750 billion euros, which will be sent in the form of loans and grants to the most affected countries. This approved Fund in addition to the seven-year EU budget of 1 trillion euros that leaders have been negotiating for several months prior to the pandemic.
European leaders considered the proposal from the five richest countries (the Netherlands, Austria, Finland, Sweden and Denmark), which proposed to draw up a recovery Fund in the early stages of the 350 billion euros in grants and the same amount in loans. This five generally opposed all grants, while the Executive power of the EU has proposed 500 billion Euro to send in the form for such assistance to those most affected by COVID-19 countries. Eventually this figure was reduced to 390 billion euros.
Overstayers in Brussels, the European leaders failed to agree on a formula for providing economic assistance to overcome the consequences of the invasion of the coronavirus in Europe. And this assistance is linked to the commitment of the member States of the EU standards of the legal state and the basic European values.
Hungary and Poland – and it was a pebble in their garden – was originally against such a linkage. After all, the Brussels structures accuse Budapest and Warsaw in compliance with European standards of the judiciary and contempt of the European principles.
However, in the end a compromise was reached. According to the signed agreement, we intend to develop the system of loan conditionality, in case of violation of which the Commission will propose punitive measures.
the same day, the EU agreed on the amount of subsidies for economic recovery. Coronavirus has hit Europe, leaving about 135 thousand of its citizens dead and pushing the economy into recession (it is estimated at 8.3% this year).
“It was a meeting at the highest level, the consequences of which, I believe, will be historic, commented the decisions of the summit the President of France Emmanuel macron. – This has created the opportunity to co-create loans, create a recovery Fund in the spirit of solidarity”.
Elation of the French President it is easy to understand if you remember that he threatened to leave the summit if the selfishness of the neighbors in European the house will prevail and will not be able to come to an acceptable result. At some point the Makron, trying to reason with its uncompromising colleagues, which he compared with British dissenters, who left the EU, it was necessary to knock a fist on the table. And the young Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who at the time of the discussion was distracted by a phone conversation, the Makron also arranged obstruction, is reported.
Tired but clearly pleased with German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, “We have laid the financial basis for the EU for the next seven years and have found the answer to this is perhaps the biggest crisis for the European Union”.
this summit is notable not only because this is the first meeting of EU leaders in full-time mode since the start of the pandemic. And not only for its almost unprecedented duration (longer was only a five-day summit in nice in 2000). It is also notable that demonstrated the full depth of the contradictions between the European countries willing to pull the blanket over himself, protecting first and foremost their national (some would say selfish) interests, not pan-European solidarity.
But, as the Associated Press, given that every EU leader has the right to veto the whole package, a joint commitment to invest and to spend such funds can already be regarded as a success.
At the same time, although coming to a compromise and was given a day of heated debates, emotional outbursts and nervous tension, European leaders still demonstrated the ability to negotiate, and hence to move forward.
