The first EU summit since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic took place in Brussels today. The heads of governments gathered to discuss the EU’s new 7-year budget and the plan for economic reconstruction following the pandemic.
Difficult negotiations seem to be underway in Brussels, but the head of the European Commission believes a final agreement can be reached.
“We are in the initial stages of the negotiations, the stakes cannot be higher. If we conduct them in an appropriate way, we can overcome this crisis and come out stronger. All the necessary elements are on the table, it is possible to make an agreement”, stated Ursula von der Leyen.
Before the summit began, the head of the Polish government met with the Prime Ministers of the Visegrad Group to coordinate the stance of the entire region.
“It is difficult to say what the final results of today’s talks will be, but it is worth noting that the mechanism that was proposed, meaning what was initially planned as the element of available funds for the budget, the so-called climate payment or Emission Trading Scheme, has been excluded from this. It will be a profit for Poland of around 7 billion euro”, said PM Mateusz Morawiecki.
During the morning briefing before the summit, the head of the Polish government also referred to the proposal of the European Commission regarding the creation of a mechanism making the EU funding dependent on the rule of law in member states, which is to be one of the topics of the summit…
“We do not agree to an arbitrary perception of the matter of the rule of law. There is article 7 and it is enough. Let it run its course. We have been opting for the closing of this article for a long time, though. But the joining of these two areas, two completely different legal matters, brings great danger to the certainty of law and there will be no agreement to this from us”, commented Morawiecki.
According to the latest proposal by the head of the European Council, Charles Michel, 750 million euro is to be allocated to the economic reconstruction after the pandemic. The new EU budget is to amount to more than one trillion euro.