The previous three days of EU-wide talks on a common post-coronavirus recovery fund have resulted in general accord on the future agreement's framework, paving the way for a final deal to be struck on Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on her way to the negotiation chamber in Brussels
BERLIN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th July, 2020) The previous three days of EU-wide talks on a common post-coronavirus recovery fund have resulted in general accord on the future agreement's framework, paving the way for a final deal to be struck on Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on her way to the negotiation chamber in Brussels.
The summit was initially scheduled to end on Saturday but has now extended into its fourth day already. This is for the first time since the pandemic's onset that European leaders have gathered for an in-person conference.
"During a long negotiation yesterday night, we worked out the framework of a possible agreement. This is a step forward, and it gives us hope that today we might be able to reach an agreement or that an agreement is possible at all," Merkel told reporters.
As pointed out by Merkel, the current package idea � where part of the funds will be issued in grants and part in repayable loans � was originally proposed by Germany and France and made it possible to launch the European dialogue on financial aid to coronavirus-hit member states.
"This is the solution that we need in this extraordinary situation. It was obvious that negotiations would be difficult. Today they go on. But extraordinary situations require extraordinary efforts, and we so far are doing what it takes," the German chancellor said.
The leaders of the 27 EU member-states are negotiating terms of what is expected to become the bloc's largest economic package ever.
The initial plan was to form a 750 billion euro ($857 billion) tap-in fund, of which 500 billion Euros will be issued in grants and the remaining 250 billion in loans. The controversy appears to be evolving around the member states' varying stances on how much should be earmarked for loans and how much for grants and whether there should be any non-coronavirus-related conditions to get the money, such as reforms.
The summit is also expected to result in the settlement of the EU's long-term budget for the next seven years.
