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The plenary session was scheduled for 1 p.m. Lithuanian time, but was delayed due to continued bilateral consultations, diplomatic sources told BNS.
The European Commission intends to borrow € 750 billion to bail out the markets. However, the first two days of the European Council failed to reach a compromise on what part could be given to countries in the form of grants and what part could be given in the form of loans.
The Dutch demand that states can veto the allocation of money if recipient countries do not carry out the necessary economic reforms is also controversial.
Poland and Hungary, which are in conflict with Brussels, for their part, are trying to ensure that support is not tied to the rule of law.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel acknowledged on Sunday that there is still a chance that EU leaders will not reach an agreement at the meeting.
“I still can’t say if a solution will be found,” he said. “There is a lot of good will, but it is also possible that results will not be achieved today.”
French President Emmanuel Macron, meanwhile, called on EU leaders to “take responsibility” and said a deal was possible.
“But there is no compromise on the cost of Europe’s ambitions,” he said. “Not in principle, but because we are facing an unprecedented health, economic and social crisis, because our countries and European unity need it.”
What is Lithuania fighting for?
The Lithuanian delegation, led by President Gitanas Nausėda, closely follows the formula for allocating funds to the Member States of the Recovery Fund.
Unofficial calculations show that, according to the criteria proposed on Saturday, support from the new fund for Lithuania would be lower than that proposed by the European Commission in May, but higher than the proposal presented last week.
According to the sources, the subsidy can amount to around 1,500 million euros, with fluctuations of several hundred million euros according to different formulas. In addition, the possibility of requesting additional loans of around € 2 billion is foreseen.
There is also a separate EU budget of more than € 1 trillion for 2021-2027 at the negotiating table.
In it, Lithuanian negotiators seek to preserve as many funds as possible from so-called cohesion funds, which support the poorest European regions, and accelerate the growth of direct payments to Lithuanian farmers.
During the Saturday negotiations, the Lithuanians already received good news: additional compensation for agriculture was offered to Lithuania and eight other countries. It is proposed to allocate an additional € 125 million of rural development funds to Lithuania.
In any case, the so-called cohesion support allocated to Lithuania to reduce the backwardness of the poorest regions will decrease as economic indicators get closer to the EU average. The project offers a guarantee that the reduction cannot exceed 24%, in addition, Lithuania should receive approximately 180 million. compensation for emigration losses.
The renovated project also offered between 139 and 189 million. to increase funding for the so-called Special Transit Scheme, which is used by Russian citizens traveling through Lithuania between the main part of Russia and the Königsberg region.
On Saturday, President G. Nausėda called the new proposal a step forward, but promised to secure greater cohesion support and a faster increase in direct payments to farmers.
Merkel: the EU summit could end without an agreement
German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned on Sunday that there is still a possibility that European Union leaders may not reach an agreement on economic recovery after the coronavir crisis.
Reaching the third and probably last day of the EU summit, Merkel said that the leaders of the 27 countries have different positions on the size of the fund, its availability and its connection to the rule of law.
“I still can’t say if a solution will be found,” he said. “There is a lot of good will, but it is also possible that results will not be achieved today.”
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