Recovery Plan of the EU : Macron and Merkel expressed the hope of an agreement

The talks will resume "with the hopes of a compromise. Nothing is still confirmed, I will remain extremely cautious," said Emmanuel Macron.

A way out of the european summit, is it still possible? European leaders meet on Monday in the late afternoon after a break of a few hours, on the fourth day of a summit marathon in Brussels, where the possibility of an agreement on a larger plan for economic recovery designed to cushion the effects of the pandemic is emerging, against the backdrop of ambitions downgraded.

The French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Angela Merkel have expressed that their next "hope" for an agreement on a recovery plan post-coronavirus, in the fourth day of a summit laborious to Brussels.

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The talks will resume "with the hopes of a compromise. Nothing is still confirmed, I will remain extremely cautious," said Emmanuel Macron on his arrival at the european Council. "Last night, after lengthy negotiations, we have found a framework for a possible agreement. It is a step forward, and it gives the hope that an agreement can be reached today, the least that an agreement is possible", for his part, said Angela Merkel.

Optimism

The 27 should start at around 16 hours into their fourth day of negotiations, after being separated in the early morning, around 6 hours. The summit, which began Friday morning, is the longest since that of Nice in December 2000. The president of the european Council, Charles Michel, mediator of the summit, will present a new draft compromise to the capitals, is less ambitious than the initial proposal.

several sources, it should propose the review to the decline in the share of grants in the stimulus package amounted to 750 billion euros : 390 billion, compared to $ 500 billion initially expected. The rest would be made up of loans. "As long as we couldn't define what was the amount of the stimulus funds, we could not move forward", stressed a source in europe.

The reduction of this volume is a new step in the direction of the so-called "frugal" (the netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Austria and Finland, which block any agreement from the beginning. The Dutch Prime minister Mark Rutte, the more difficult to convince, it was recognized that progress had been made. "We have not yet found any outcome, it may still fail. But I am more optimistic than I was this night at a given time, where I said, "it is finished", he explained Monday morning.

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several sources, the dinner was eventful, marked by the shrug of the tone of Emmanuel Macron to protest the ill-will and the "inconsistencies" of frugal.

He blasted the behavior of Sebastian Kurz and compared Mark Rutte to the ex-british Prime minister David Cameron, a fan of a hard line during the european summits, stressing that "this kind of positioning ended badly", in reference to the Brexit. "There has been a pass very hard. The President followed by the chancellor banged her fist on the table", is there shown of French source. Another european sources believed that the frugal have "played the clock".

Defiance

At a time when an historic recession hits Europe, the reluctance of the frugal threaten to disrupt a massive plan to support the economy, which would benefit primarily the countries of the South such as Italy and Spain, the most affected by the epidemic. The fund put on the table of negotiations, is constituted by a borrowing capacity of € 750 billion and backed by the long-term budget of the EU (2021-2027) of 1074 billion euros.

The unanimous vote required of the 27 member States makes agreement particularly difficult. The frugal followers of the budgetary orthodoxy, are concerned about the proper use of funds distributed. At the dinner, Charles Michel urged the 27 to agree to not present the "face of a weak Europe, undermined by distrust".

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It has multiplied throughout the summit, pledged in favour of frugal, for example, in attempting to respond to the request of Mark Rutte to confirm the unanimity of the 27 the recovery plans presented by each country in consideration of the aid. It is expected also that the discount obtained by the five countries (the frugal, as well as Germany), who see their net contributions to the EU budget disproportionate, be maintained, even strengthened.

other points remained to be addressed in the next few hours: the anchoring of the budget in the fight against climate change, but also the link between european aid and the respect of the rule of law. A measure supported by many of the capitals, and in particular by The Hague, but who cringe Budapest and Warsaw.

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Prime minister Viktor Orban is strongly opposed to Sunday, accusing even his Dutch counterpart is willing "punish financially", whereas the alleged violations of press freedom and democratic standards in Hungary are still under evaluation by the EU. The backbone of the package, the multiannual budget of the EU, has still not been dissected.