EU leaders reach deal on recovery package after lengthy summit

European Union leaders have finally clinched an unprecedented 1.82 trillion euro (£1.64tn) budget and coronavirus recovery fund.

The leaders finalised the agreement in Brussels in the early hours of yesterday, finding unity after four days and nights of fighting and wrangling over money and power in one of the EU’S longest ever summits.

To confront the biggest recession in its history, officials said the EU had a consensus on a 750 billion euro (£677bn) coronavirus fund to be sent as loans and grants to the countries hit hardest by the virus.

That comes on top of the sevenyear one trillion euro (£900bn) EU budget. At first the grants were to total 500 billion euro (£451bn), but the figure was lowered to 390 billion euro (£352bn).

German chancellor Angela Merkel said: “Extraordinary events, and this is the pandemic that has reached us all, also require extraordinary new methods.”

Belgian prime minister Sophie Wilmes said: “Never before did the EU invest in the future like this.”

“It is a historic day for Europe,” said French president Emmanuel Macron, who earlier reflected on some “extremely tense moments” during the marathon summit.

Just shy of being the longest EU summit in history, the 27 leaders huddled back in the main room of the Europa centre and bumped elbows and made jokes before giving the package the final approval.

“Deal!” wrote summit host Charles Michel on Twitter.

What was planned as a twoday summit scheduled to end on Saturday was forced into two extra days by deep ideological differences among the leaders.

But overall, spirits were high early yesterday since the talks hit rock bottom on Sunday night.

The coronavirus has sent the EU into a tailspin, killing around 135,000 of its citizens and plunging its economy into an estimated contraction of 8.3% this year.

Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez insisted an ambitious plan was required as the crisis continued to threaten the continent.