Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte watches alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and French President Emmanuel Macron, before the start of the European Council building in Brussels, on July 18, 2020.
Francisco Seco | AFP | fake pictures
The 27 governments of the European Union have reached an innovative agreement on the region’s 750 billion euro pandemic recovery fund, after the marathon talks in Brussels.
Heads of state have been locked in talks since Friday morning to discuss the proposed fund and the upcoming EU budget. However, deep differences on how to divide the amount between grants and loans, how to monitor your investment, and how to link it to the EU’s democratic values prolonged the talks at one of the longest summits in EU history.
In terms of other measures, the EU has already approved a short-term fiscal stimulus package of € 540 billion to tackle the current economic shock. This is in addition to what individual governments announced separately for their own economies since the pandemic first hit Europe.
In addition, the European Central Bank is buying government bonds as part of its pandemic Emergency Buying Program, which totals 1.35 trillion euros.
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