The agreement between France and Germany on a 500 billion euro recovery fund to be included in the EU budget arrives in the evening, precisely on the day of reopening. It is half of the 1000 billion expected but it is a boost and a significant step forward that Ursula Von der Leyen immediately welcomes: "It is a constructive proposal, I welcome it", she comments in real time.
It is the news that closes a day of optimism on the markets, the icing on the back on the day in which the lockdown for the Covid-19 pandemic ended in many EU countries and they painfully come to terms with the difficulties of restarting.
Emmanuel Macron and a great Angela Merkel always higher in the polls, after a videoconference, publish a joint statement that seeks to unblock one of the crucial points for the relaunch of European economies that risk asphyxiation from viruses. The goal – they say – “is to support a sustainable recovery that restores and strengthens growth in the EU”. Germany and France support "the creation of an ambitious, temporary and targeted stimulus fund" as part of the next EU budget endowed with "500 billion euros", write the two leaders. The expectation was that the EU plan would be worth at least one trillion.
The Franco-German statement states that the Recovery Fund will serve "for the most affected sectors and regions, on the basis of EU budget programs and in compliance with European priorities”. The 500 billion will serve to strengthen “the resilience, convergence and competitiveness of European economies e increase investments, especially in the ecological and digital transitions, in research and innovation”, states the text. “The financing of the Recovery Fund will be targeted at the difficulties associated with the pandemic and its repercussions”. It will constitute an "extraordinary supplement, integrated in the decision on own resources (of the EU budget), with a clearly specified volume and expiry date, and will be linked to a binding repayment plan beyond the next European budget". 100 billion euros are destined for Italy.
Music for the president of the EU Commission who in fact hastens to give her seal. The Macron-Merkel proposal “recognizes the extent of the economic challenge facing Europe and rightly underlines the need to find a solution that keeps the budget at the heart of its priorities. The proposal is in line with the one prepared by the Commission, which will also take into account the views of all Member States and the European Parliament".
