• Summit: EU leaders close landmark deal with $ 390 billion in direct transfers
  • Reconstruction: why (part of) Europe does not trust Spain
  • Economy: the five charts that give context to the frugal discourse on the EU

"It is a great agreement for Europe and for Spain . One of the most brilliant pages in European history has been written. It is a true Marshall Plan with which Europe has sent a forceful message to the world, saying that it is ready for challenges. The EU comes out much stronger and the Europeans win. The work has been strenuous but the result has been worth it. " This is how he sees it and this is how the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez , explained this morning , after finishing the longest European Council in history.

The entire Heads of State and Government of the 27 have been meeting for four full days to close the Union Budget until 2027 and the Recovery Fund after the pandemic. A historic € 750 billion mechanism through which the Commission will raise resources in the markets to help the most affected countries, including up to € 390 billion in direct transfers .

Spain wanted more . He supported the Commission's initial proposal, with half a trillion in transfers and 250,000 million more in credits , but to agree, in the EU, always implies giving in, even on the most important issues. "Of course yes, of course I would have liked to have 500,000 million in transfers, but between having 390,000 million and zero there is an important jump. I already said that we would all have to give in, because the only red line was to have an agreement, which gives certainty, hope and a horizon. Today is a historic day, "he answered the correspondents' questions.

The Commission's initial proposal included 77.3 billion in transfers and 63,122 in loans for our country , a total of 140 billion, the second highest figure after Italy. But with the changes introduced, in the distribution between the two games and the change in priorities, there will be modifications. "Spain has achieved approximately 140,000 euros, 11% of Spanish GDP. Of those 72,700 will be in transfers and the rest, in loans," said Sánchez. That means about 5 billion less in direct subsidies compared to the starting point of the negotiation. "We are 95% satisfied," said the president.

Why the change? Because figures have danced from one community program to another. And because the agreed text changes the distribution key. Not all the money from the Recovery and Resilience Fund will be distributed according to the criteria established by the Commission (unemployment or GDP since 2015). Only 70% of the funds will go thus to the capitals. For the remaining 30%, the real impact on GDP in 2020 and 2021 will be taken into account, trying to favor those who have been hit hardest. Italian Government sources indicate that his country will have the same transfers and will opt for even more loans than anticipated before the Summit.

To understand the weight in perspective of this volume of aid, which is added to the liquidity lines already agreed in the Eurogroup for a value of 540,000 million, the president has used a comparison. According to his data, the historic Cohesion Funds that helped Spain so much in the past, the first times, amounted to around 7,000 million euros for six years. "Today they are 73,000 million, almost 10 times more than the size of those cohesion funds that meant so much , " he stressed.

Within the Budget, a key issue will be the Common Agricultural Policy . With the reduction of the Financial Framework for 2021-2027 after Brexit, since without the United Kingdom there is one less significant net contributor, there are items that fall. And the big ones, PAC and Cohesion, were on target. "The Government promised to provide sufficient funds to the CAP. It has been the objective, the commitment, and I can say that we have met the goal. All the interventions in direct aid, market and development will have the same amount as in the financial framework 2014-2020 ", has guaranteed.

AMBITIOUS REFORMS

One of the most controversial parts of the Summit is the one that has made reference to the reforms and the possibility that a single government can activate the so-called 'emergency brakes' if it considers that another country has not made the promised draft reforms. It would slow down the process and could delay any disbursement for up to three months, forcing the European Council , the heads of state and government, to study it carefully. Sánchez wanted to downplay the issue, ensuring that the governance of these mechanisms will be very different from that of the past, and that the Commission will have the main role, unlike the Eurogroup , as then.

"I understand that there are countries that, if they are going to get into debt, say that they want these funds to be used for the programs for which they were created. What has been my objection? Not to degrade the position of the Commission, to maintain institutional balance. his agenda is aligned with that of the Commission, like the rest of the members. We are already making these reforms and for Spain it was important to raise it. The agenda of Europe and Spain are in absolute synchronicity ", assured the president, guaranteeing that he maintains a relationship Great with Dutchman Mark Rutte and that the frugal leader "knows and shares that we are a reformist government."

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Know more

  • European Union
  • Pedro Sánchez
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