BRUSSELS: EU chief Charles Michel unveiled Friday his latest proposal for a 750-billion-euro pandemic recovery fund in the hope of winning over more frugal member states.
Europe has been thrust into its biggest recession in history and Michel, who coordinates among EU government leaders, is hoping to win a green light for the package at a summit next week.
This will be the first in-person summit since the pandemic engulfed Europe in March and leaders will also seek approval of the bloc's long-term budget. But Michel's proposals ran into immediate trouble as Finland, Sweden, Hungary and the Netherlands all voiced concerns.
As a sweetener for the so-called "Frugal Four" - the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Austria - Michel proposed to revise the EU's seven-year budget down to 1.074 trillion euros ($1.2 trillion), 13 billion euros less than an earlier proposal.
Michel also said countries with long-held rebates on their European contributions would continue to get them, despite a big push to do away with these discounts.
Rebates are an EU custom made famous by former UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher who four decades ago called for Britain to get "our money back".
Michel also awarded more power to EU member states on how the recovery fund would be distributed, giving EU capitals a greater say over the spending plans of their neighbours.
This will be sure to revive tortured memories of the debt crisis bailouts, where Greece, Portugal and Ireland were subjected to the oversight of the EU and IMF. Michel did not cede ground on the main point of contention: whether aid should be handed out in the form of grants or - as the "frugals" demand - loans.
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