Premier Giuseppe Conte on Wednesday
continued to firm up Spanish and Portuguese support for Italy's
stance on the EU's planned Recovery Fund, flying from Lisbon to
Madrid.
Political sources said there was full agreement between the
three countries that there should be a swift European response,
with a deal by the end of this month.
Italy, Spain and Portugal also agree that most of the funds must
come in grants rather than loans, according to the European
Commission's original 750 billion euro proposal.
Northern European countries, on the other hand, are pushing for
more loans than grants and have said there is no great hurry on
an agreement.
On Tuesday Conte stressed the need for a reaction to the COVID
crisis, which risks destroying the single market, saying "if
some countries have greater difficulty, all the others will
suffer as a consequence".
Spanish Premier Pedro Sanchez said an agreement on the Fund
could and must be reached, in an interview with Corriere della
Sera newspaper.
Sanchez spoke of a pact for Europe between Italy and Spain.
He added that Madrid for now has adequate access to credit and
will therefore not resort to the European Stability Mechanism
bailout fund.
Italy, too, has been cautious about using the ESM, with some in
government saying that a no strings attached promise may not be
true.
Conte, for his part, has said it is up to parliament to decide
whether Rome should tap into the ESM for COVID-related spending.
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