A plan for injecting billions of euros of emergency aid into Europe’s struggling economies has been agreed by EU leaders.
At a video conference they agreed to set up a massive recovery fund, to be closely tied to the bloc’s seven-year budget. The European Commission now has to work out the details.
They also confirmed that €540bn (£470bn) of financial support would be released through existing mechanisms, to ease the economic pain caused by coronavirus, from 1 June.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the future recovery fund would mobilise €1 trillion of investment.
There has been bitter argument over how to fund the much-needed aid. But Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said “great progress” had been made on Thursday.
Italy – the worst-affected country in Europe to date – has urged its EU partners, especially the richer countries of northern Europe, to show more solidarity.
BBC
