French President Emmanuel Macron on 'historic' European Union deal on economic recovery

Steph Deschamps / July 22, 2020

The deal reached on the stimulus package is for the European Union "the most important moment since the creation of the euro," Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday, hours after the end of the Brussels summit.

At dawn on Tuesday, after more than four days and as many nights of sometimes tense discussions, the heads of state and government of the 27 countries of the European Union finally agreed on the terms of a 750 billion plan euros intended to help their economy, based for the first time on a common debt.

This agreement is the result of "three years of work between France and Germany," Emmanuel Macron commented on Tuesday evening to the French channel TF1's 8 p.m. newspaper. "I want our fellow citizens to realize the importance of what happened during these four days and four nights," insisted the head of state. "This is the project on which the French trusted me, which I presented in September 2017 at La Sorbonne. We fought (...) This is the most important moment in the life of our Europe since the creation of the euro ", which entered into circulation on January 1, 2002.

The result of intense negotiations, the final agreement downgrades the share of subsidies in the stimulus plan, a gesture aimed at so-called "frugal" countries (the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Austria joined by Finland).

The amount of these subsidies has been set at 390 billion, against the 500 billion initially planned and defended by Berlin and Paris in the name of European solidarity with countries like Italy and Spain, the hardest hit by the virus. .