(ANSA-AFP) - BRUSSELS, 19 LUG - Germany's Chancellor Angela
Merkel warned that EU leaders may fail to reach an agreement on
Sunday on a huge post-virus recovery plan for the shattered
European economy. Arriving for the third and what she said was
probably the "decisive" day of an extraordinary European summit,
Merkel said the 27 leaders had "many positions" on the size of
the fund, on rules for accessing it and on tying it to respect
for the rule of law. "I still can't say whether a solution will
be found," she said. "There is a lot of good will... but it may
also be that no result will be achieved today." Merkel was due
to join French President Emmanuel Macron and the president of
the European Council, summit host Charles Michel, to prepare a
new offer to break the logjam after Dutch Prime Minister Mark
Rutte and his "Frugal Five" allies blocked a deal. Michel had
proposed a 750-billion-euro package of EU loans and grants to
help member states recover from an historic coronavirus
recession, but Austria sees the package as too big and the
Netherlands wants member states to be able to veto national
spending plans. The rest of the 27 EU leaders were due to meet
again in the full summit format from noon (1000 GMT) and talks
could yet go late into the night. (ANSA-AFP).
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