Brussels (AFP)

After a few hours' break, European leaders were again preparing for long negotiations on Monday, in the hope of reaching an agreement on a post-coronavirus recovery plan, on the fourth day of a laborious summit, against a backdrop of deep dissension .

This summit could soon break the record of that of Nice, in November 2000, where it had taken around 85 hours for the leaders to agree on a revision of the treaties within the framework of the enlargement to the East.

The resumption of the plenary session, initially envisaged at 4 p.m. local time, is expected for 6 p.m. (4 p.m. GMT).

Cautious optimism has won over some leaders after the tensions of the night before.

The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, mediator of the summit, will present a new compromise project to the capitals, less ambitious than the initial proposal.

- Decrease in the amount of subsidies -

Concordant sources, it should propose to revise downwards the share of subsidies in the recovery plan, estimated in total at 750 billion euros: 390 billion, against 500 billion originally planned. The rest would be loans.

"As long as we could not define well what was the amount of the stimulus fund, we could not move forward," said a European source.

According to another source, the figure of 390 billion "seems to be accepted by all parties".

At a time when a historic recession hits Europe, the reluctance of the so-called "frugal" countries (the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, joined by Finland) threatens to derail a massive plan to support the economy, which would primarily benefit southern countries like Italy and Spain, the most affected by the epidemic.

The unanimity required makes an agreement difficult.

The reduction in the volume of subsidies is a big step in the direction of the frugal, who block any agreement from the start.

- "More optimistic" -

Dutch leader Mark Rutte, the hardest to convince, acknowledged that progress had been made.

"It may still fail. But I am more optimistic than I was last night at one point, when I said to myself: it's over," he said on Monday morning.

But other subjects turn out to be just as thorny: the question of the rule of law and the multiannual budget of the EU (2021-2027).

The recovery fund, made up of a borrowing capacity of 750 billion euros, is in fact backed by the EU budget in the amount of 1.074 billion euros.

This budget was the subject of a summit alone in February, before the coronavirus crisis, without the leaders being able to agree.

Amount allocated to each EU policy, anchoring of the budget in the fight against climate change, but also link between European aid and respect for the rule of law (freedom of the press, independence of the judiciary ... ), remain to be settled.

This last question bristles Warsaw and Budapest, in the crosshairs of the Commission and the European Parliament who have launched a procedure against them in this file.

- Rule of law -

Prime Minister Viktor Orban strongly opposed it on Sunday, even accusing his Dutch counterpart of wanting to "punish Hungary" financially.

"For the compromise to be acceptable to Poland, we must get what we have been asking for from the start: no discretion for EU bodies, EU institutions regarding the rule of law," said Mateusz Morawiecki to the Polish media.

There was no shortage of sources of tension during this marathon summit.

From concordant sources, Sunday's dinner was eventful, marked by the raising of the tone of Emmanuel Macron to denounce the ill will and the "inconsistencies" of the frugal.

During this same meal, Charles Michel had exhorted the 27 to agree not to present the "face of a weak Europe, undermined by distrust".

Throughout the summit, he multiplied the pledges in favor of frugal, for example by trying to respond to Mark Rutte's request to unanimously validate the recovery plans presented by each country in return for aid. It is also expected that the discounts obtained by five countries (the frugal, as well as Germany), which consider their net contributions to the EU budget disproportionate, will be maintained or even increased.

© 2020 AFP