(ANSA-AFP) - BRUSSELS, 21 LUG - EU leaders emerged from a
marathon four-day and four-night summit Tuesday to celebrate
what they boasted was a historic rescue plan for economies left
shattered by the coronavirus epidemic. The 750-billion-euro
($858-billion) deal was sealed after intense negotiation that
saw a threats of a French walkout and a Hungarian veto -- and
fierce opposition from the Netherlands and Austria to too
generous a package. "These were of course, difficult
negotiations in very difficult times for all Europeans," EU
Council Chief Charles Michel, whose job was to guide the
tortuous talks over more than 90 hours. He dubbed the summit "a
marathon which ended in success for all 27 member states, but
especially for the people." The package, seen by AFP, was made
possible by the crucial backing of Germany and France and
includes the biggest ever joint borrowing by the 27 members of
the bloc, something that had been resisted by Berlin and the
so-called "frugal" northern states for generations. The deal is
a special victory for French President Emmanuel Macron who came
to office in 2017 committed to strengthen the European Union,
but had struggled to deliver against member states with less
ambition for the seven-decade-old EU project. "This is a
historic change for Europe," Macron told reporters in a joint
press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, speaking
of her relief that Europe had, in her eyes, shown itself equal
to "The greatest crisis in the history of the European Union." -
'Frugals' fight - The package will send tens of billions of
euros to countries hardest hit by the virus, most notably
heavily indebted Spain and Italy that had lobbied hard for a
major gesture from their EU partners. Their call for solidarity
was met with the fierce opposition of the "Frugals", a group of
small, northern nations led by Netherlands, who believed
strongly that the stimulus package was unnecessary. Spanish
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez hailed "a Marshall Plan for
Europe", that would boost Spain's suffering economy by 140
billion euros over the next six years. But Prime Minister Mark
Rutte of the Netherlands denied that the advent of joint
borrowing for the rescue heralded the start of what he had
warned of before the talks -- a "transfer union" with a
permanent north south transfer of wealth. "This is a one off,
there is a clear necessity for this given the excessive
situation," he told reporters. The frugals were also deeply
apprehensive of sending money to southern countries that they
see as too lax with public spending. To meet their concerns,
payouts from the package will come with important strings
attached -- a hard pill to swallow for Rome and Madrid who
deeply resisted anything resembling the harsh bailouts imposed
on Greece, Portugal or Ireland during the debt crisis. The
frugals were also enticed with heavy rebates on their EU
contributions, furthering a practice first offered to Britain
decades ago, when it was still a member. (ANSA-AFP).
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