BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte held out against his European Union counterparts on Saturday as negotiations on a massive stimulus fund came to a second day and authorities predicted a difficult road ahead.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte speaks with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen during a meeting on the sidelines of the first face-to-face summit of the EU since the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Brussels, Belgium, July 18, 2020. Francisco Seco / Pool via REUTERS
With the coronavirus pandemic plaguing many European economies their worst economic shock since World War II, leaders say they must agree on a € 750bn ($ 856bn) recovery fund and a new EU budget. of 1 billion euros.
Granting that the atmosphere at the summit in Brussels had soured on Friday during a late dinner after 13 hours of talks reached a standstill, Rutte told reporters on Saturday: “This will probably take a while.”
But Rutte said he would not agree to any cost, even when the Netherlands seemed more isolated.
“I’m getting a little bit more lonely, I’m afraid,” he said of the Dutch insistence that any money paid by the recovery fund be examined first by The Hague.
“I am doing this for the whole of Europe, because it is also in the interest of Spain and Italy to emerge from this crisis with force,” said Rutte, referring to the two EU countries most affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Many of the 27 leaders, wearing masks at their first face-to-face meeting since February, had their own demands in a complex negotiation that crossed different regional and economic priorities.
But the Dutch position highlighted deep divisions in the bloc, as the executive European Commission seeks a mandate to borrow billions of euros from capital markets for the first time. The fiscally conservative countries led by the Netherlands insist that any new debt must be strictly monitored.
The exact size of the budget for 2021-27, € 1 trillion and to what extent to use payments as leverage for reforms, or whether to retain money for rule of law issues in Eastern Europe, had not yet been resolved.
Hungarian Prime Minister Orban, whom critics accuse of stifling the media, academics and NGOs, threatened to veto the entire plan on a mechanism that would freeze countries that do not meet democratic standards.
The second day was due to start at 0900 GMT, but officials said the summit president, European Council President Charles Michel, was circulating new proposals with the leaders, possibly delaying the first plenary session.
Reports by Kate Abnett, John Chalmers, Marine Strauss and Francesco Guarascio in Brussels; Editing by Angus MacSwan
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