Negotiations on the EU’s next budget and recovery fund have resumed. And there is good news for Denmark and the other savings countries.
The fight over EU’s major recovery package has now begun in earnest after Charles Michel, President of the European Council, this morning threw a new compromise proposal on the negotiating table in Brussels.
Here are the Heads of State and Government from the 27th member gathered for summit to negotiate EU’s next long-term budget and recovery fund in place.
And the chairman of the council, who must try to land one compromise, is now planning to give Denmark, among other things, a larger discount on the payment to EUbudget than originally planned.
Today is Denmark EUdiscount of around one billion kroner a year. But in the new proposal, it stands to increase to DKK 1.654 billion a year.
– This is good news for Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, says DR’s EUcorrespondent, Ole Ryborg.
Fewer grants in corona fund
In addition, Charles Michel is ready to change the distribution between grants and loans in the huge recovery fund of about $ 5.6 trillion that the countries will establish to help the hardest hit countries after the corona crisis.
In the original distention it was planned that 66 percent of the money should be given as grants, mens de remaining33 percent were to be offered as loans. Denmark and the other ‘savings countries’ – the Netherlands, Sweden and Austria – on the other hand, want the money to be given as loans, which the recipient countries must repay.
Now the chairman of the council proposes to change the balance so that there will be less grants, while a larger share of the assistance from the Recovery Fund must come in the form of loans.
At the same time, it is planned that it will be easy EUcountries to stop payments from grants from the Recovery Fund, if a country that wishes grants, not also simultaneously implementing financial reforms, to make the country’s economy more sustainable.
