China News Service reported on July 20th that as of 19th local time, after three days of discussions, the leaders of the European Union are still deadlocked in their economic rescue plan. The President of the European Council Michelle urged leaders of all countries to make final efforts for "impossible tasks".
On July 17, local time, in Brussels, Belgium, French President Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel attended the EU face-to-face summit.
According to reports, this summit is the first face-to-face meeting of EU leaders since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic in Europe. The theme of the meeting was to discuss the EU's budget for 2021 to 2027 and the "recovery fund" plan with a total amount of 750 billion euros.
According to the proposal, the "recovery fund" will be raised through debt issuance, and a combination of free appropriation and low-interest loans will help countries affected by the epidemic recover their economies.
However, leaders of various countries disagree on how to allocate huge recovery funds and what conditions should be attached to the beneficiary countries. The Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, and Austria oppose free appropriations and request that aid payments be linked to reform commitments.
Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Bertel said that in his seven years of experience attending European conferences, “I’ve never seen such a diametrically opposed position.” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said before arriving at the summit, “Will there be a The solution, I can't say yet."
The President of the European Council Michelle pointed out that in the face of the unprecedented crisis, unity is needed. "I hope we can reach an agreement, and the front page headlines... Tomorrow is the EU to complete the impossible task."