[ad_1]
Wednesday, December 9, 2020, 12:56 pm
| Last updated: 13:15
Ap Images
A day before the crucial “27” summit in Brussels, the German presidency agreed with Hungary and Poland to lift their veto by blocking the Recovery Fund.
According to Bloomberg, Polish Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Govin said a compromise with Germany had been reached just hours before the summit, but no further details have been released.
Poland and Hungary, two countries with nationalist governments, signed an agreement for the creation of a Recovery Fund last July. But then they blocked both the Fund and the EU budget for the period 2021-2027, when the Commission, to release the funds, demanded that each member state respect the rule of law.
Brussels accuses the governments of the two countries of violating fundamental democratic rules, especially regarding the independence of the judiciary.
The negative attitude of Hungary and Poland had led Brussels to seek alternatives to the budget and the Recovery Fund without their participation.
In fact, a senior European Commission official recently told the Financial Times that Brussels had started the first talks on setting up the Fund without Poland and Hungary.
The official added that the 25 EU member states could set up a € 750 billion Recovery Fund next year in the form of a “bridge” until Hungary and Poland veto their total budget.
