Member states of the European Union must come to an agreement over the common post-coronavirus recovery fund to be able to protect their citizens from grave socio-economic repercussions of COVID-19, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Friday
BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th July, 2020) Member states of the European Union must come to an agreement over the common post-coronavirus recovery fund to be able to protect their citizens from grave socio-economic repercussions of COVID-19, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Friday.
Sanchez spoke on the sidelines of an EU leaders summit in Brussels, held in a longtime abandoned in-person format and dedicated to the discussion of recovery plans after the pandemic.
"Today is a very important � I would even say historic � summit for the European states ... All European leaders are coming together today and tomorrow to achieve a good agreement, first of all for our citizens, who are struggling with not only the sanitary consequences of the pandemic, but also its social and economic consequences," Sanchez told reporters.
The Spanish prime minister counts on the EU COVID-19 fund to make the European economies "more sustainable, greener, digital and inclusive," he said.
"Spain has arrived with an intention to reach an agreement and protect its national interests," Sanchez added.
The EU leaders are expected to try negotiate the largest economic plan in the bloc's history, worth a whopping 750 billion Euros ($857 billion), of which 500 billion euros will be issued in grants and the remaining 250 billion euros in loans.
The summit is also expected to feature a discussion of the EU's revamped budget for the next seven years, projected to amount to 1.1 trillion euros.
