The French president acknowledges that the tone has not been quite as diplomatic during the EU summit in Brussels.
There is nothing to say if the feelings sit a little longer on the outside of the clothes after using the last three Day negotiating with 26 colleagues from across Europe, each with their own domestic interests to nurture.
And the French president, Emmanuel Macron, did not try to wrap it up either, when he returned to the EU summit in Brussels this afternoon after a few hours break .
– There have been extremely tense moments, and there will undoubtedly be more that will be difficult. But when it comes to content, things are moving forward, it sounded from the French president, who will not rule out that the leaders of the member states can land acompromise.
At least there is a desire to do so, Emmanuel Macron emphasized. But it must also be onecompromise, which benefits everyone, he stated.
“Nothing has been completed yet, so I remain extremely cautious,” the president said.
Controversy over subsidies
What the EU’s heads of state and government are currently trying to agree on is the EU’s next long-term budget and the huge corona recovery fund, which totals around DKK 13.8 trillion.
It is especially the last element that has created great division around the negotiating table. The idea is that the member countries will jointly lend up to DKK 5,600 billion, which will then be used to help the countries get started again after the pandemic.
France, together with countries such as Italy and Spain, wants the vast majority of the money to be given as grants, not to be repaid. Denmark is together with countries such as Austria and the Netherlands on the opposite wing, which in principle want the money to be given as a loan.
– We must use taxpayers’ money sensibly and properly, and therefore we must insist that there must be a proper balance between direct grants and loans, said Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen yesterday.
