EU recovery plan: new proposal from Michel, who believes a "possible" agreement

The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, will submit this Monday to EU leaders a revised proposal for a recovery plan for the EU economy, which they have been battling since Friday, and deems an agreement "possible" .

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This proposal "is the fruit of extremely intense collective work" , said the Belgian. "The last stages are always the most difficult, but I am confident (...) I am convinced that an agreement is possible",added the one who plays a role of mediator in this summit. Charles Michel announced on Monday morning, after a full night of negotiations, that he would try to build a new compromise on the basis of a plan made up of 390 billion euros in subsidies, against 500 billion in the initial project. The resumption of the summit, originally scheduled for 4:00 p.m. (2:00 p.m. GMT) has been postponed several times, due to the latest discussions between Europeans on this draft compromise. According to a diplomatic source, the agreement could be made around a global recovery plan of 700 billion euros financed by a common loan, composed of 390 billion in grants and 310 billion in loans repayable by the beneficiaries.

Europeans have been discussing this project since Friday morning, ardently defended by Paris and Berlin. It is intended to revive an economy brought down by the coronavirus. But this requires convincing a handful of more reserved countries: the Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.