“A historic day for Europe.”
EU leaders have struck a deal on a huge €1.82 trillion post-coronavirus recovery package and budget following a marathon four days of talks.
It's a historic agreement which focuses on a €750 billion pandemic recovery fund as well as other long-term spending plans following days of heated debates at the bloc's longest summit in over 20 years.
The deal was announced early on Tuesday morning in a tweet from Charles Michel, the European Council president and was hailed by Emmanuel Macron, the French president, as a “historic day for Europe”.
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€390 billion will consist of a programme of grants to economically weakened member states, which is smaller than the initially proposed €500 billion, while the leaders also signed off on the EU's €1.074 trillion budget for the next seven years.
It's believed the reduction to €390 billion is a concession to the so called 'Frugal Four', which consists of Netherlands, Austria, Sweden and Denmark.
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It's understood these nations were not in favour of a French/German proposal of a €500 billion programme of grants.
Reports suggest the debates became heated at a few stages over the reluctance of the Frugal Four to waver from their position with Emmanuel Macron and Italian Giuseppe Conte among those becoming frustrated at certain impasses.
A further €360 billion in low-interest loans will also be made available to members of the bloc.
It is the biggest joint borrowing ever agreed by the EU and Michel said it was a "pivotal moment" for Europe.
German leader Angela Merkel hailed the deal as securing “the financial foundations for the EU for the next seven years”.
“This recovery fund that is based on European solidarity is indeed a historic change, a historic step for Europe. This is the first time we have been able to set up this budget capacity at this level,” Emmanuel Macron said.
The summit did not quite break the record of the Nice summit in 2000, but stretched from Friday morning into Tuesday and resulted in some leaders, including Taoiseach Micheál Martin, returning home briefly before returning to Brussels.
