EU proposes €750bn corona recovery fund

■ Package to be made up of grants, loans for every member Things we take for granted are being questioned. None of that can be fixed by any single country alone This is about all of us and it is way bigger than any of us. — Ursula von der Leyen, European

Brussels, May 27: The EU’s executive is proposing a 750 billion-euro ($825 billion) recovery fund to help the bloc’s economy through the deep recession induced by the coronavirus pandemic, commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said on Wednesday.

The package will be made up of grants and loans for every EU member state.

Addressing the European Parliament, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said “this is Europe’s moment”, and added, “Things we take for granted are being questioned. None of that can be fixed by any single country alone… This is about all of us and it is way bigger than any of us.”

Mr Gentiloni, who is in charge of economic affairs at the commission, wrote in a tweet that the move is “a European turning point to face an unprecedented crisis.”

The Commission has dubbed the plan Next Generation EU. Without the backing of all 27 EU member states, it cannot go ahead. But Germany and France have backed plans for the money to be raised on the capital markets. The 27 nation European Union remains deeply divided over what conditions should be attached to the funds, and Wednesday’s proposal is likely to set off weeks of wrangling.

The move comes with the world’s biggest trading bloc set to enter its deepest-ever recession as the impact from the coronavirus ravages economies. Virtually every country has broken the European Union’s deficit limit as they’ve spent to keep health care systems, businesses and jobs alive.