China News Service, July 21. According to Reuters, a document shows that according to the proposal submitted to EU leaders on the 20th, the EU’s "recovery fund" program will include 390 billion euros in grants and 360 billion euros in loans. This is different from the 500 billion euro allocation and 250 billion euro loan originally proposed by the European Commission.
According to previous reports, the theme of this meeting is to discuss the EU's budget scale from 2021 to 2027 and a "recovery fund" program totaling 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.
According to documents obtained by Reuters, the new "recovery fund" program will include 390 billion euros in grants and 360 billion euros in loans. The plan also envisages that countries' plans to use the funds must be approved by an effective majority of the governments of EU member states.
On July 17, local time, in Brussels, Belgium, French President Macron and German Chancellor Merkel attended the EU face-to-face summit.
The EU summit was held on the 17th and was the first face-to-face meeting held by leaders of EU countries since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic in Europe. As the leaders of the 27 EU countries failed to reach an agreement on a 750 billion euro bailout plan, the duration of the meeting was repeatedly extended.
Leaders of various countries have different opinions on how to allocate the "recovery fund" 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.
Reuters analysis said that after four days of intense negotiations, this document laid the foundation for reaching a compromise agreement.