Sassoli encourages EU leaders to take responsibilities ahead of special summit

European Parliament (EP) President David Sassoli warned European Union (EU) leaders at the beginning of a summit here on Friday that the decisions they are due to make over the next two days will be crucial in rebuilding the union and preparing it for the decades to come.

Addressing the European Council, Sassoli said:

“The pandemic gives us new responsibilities and duties, the responsibility to decide and the duty to do so in the interests of all, not just the few.”

EU leaders are meeting physically in Brussels for the first time since March in a bid to find an agreement on the bloc’s next long-term budget, which would also include measures to help Europe recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

Sassoli said

the European Parliament supports the proposal put forward by the European Commission, which plans to borrow up to 750 billion euros on the financial markets as part of a new recovery tool.

“This is an essential device for Europe at this moment,” said Sassoli. The European Parliament supports the approach, the amount, and the distribution indicated between grants and loans, he added.

Meanwhile, Sassoli expressed disappointment with European Council President Charles Michel’s latest multiannual financial framework proposal,