EU negotiation over massive recovery plan enters 4th day with no major breakthrough
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The European Union (EU) special summit which aims to decide on the next seven-year budget and a massive recovery fund dragged into the fourth day early Monday with disputes over core issues still unresolved.
European Council President Charles Michel resumed the plenary at dawn after a prolonged midnight break, but only to announce it would reconvene in the afternoon.
The heads of state and government of the EU member states, in their first physical meeting since the COVID-19 outbreak in Europe, seemed resolved to reach a deal despite the arduous negotiations for three days and nights.
The summit, which kicked off on Friday, had been scheduled to end on Saturday.
Officials said the discussion was headed in the right direction as the leaders were seeking consensus on proposals to authorize the European Commission to borrow 750 billion euros (857 billion U.S. dollars) and give the money as grants and loans to the pandemic-hit member states.
“We would not like to go home without having a solution for Europe,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told reporters on Sunday afternoon.
He said all the leaders are aware how serious the situation is, considering the pandemic and possible second wave of outbreaks, and a deal to mitigate the fallout “is a must.”
The long list of disagreements has been reduced to only four points thanks to Michel’s brokering efforts, Orbán said.
The most difficult issue was rebates, a term referring to the compensation offered to some wealthy countries, including the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Austria, which claim to have made excessive contributions to the EU budget even if based on objective economic criteria.
European Parliament Speaker David Sassoli has said