‘Superstate’ EU seals £676bn recovery deal
EUROPEAN Union leaders have finally agreed on a £676billion coronavirus rescue fund following five days of bitter wrangling.
After a record-breaking summit marred by controversy, the bloc now has a spending plan for its worst hit regions and industries.
But critics accused the EU of turning into a superstate.
And Tory MPs said the pact showed Britain had quit the bloc in the “nick of time”.
To pay for the aid, the European Commission was granted unprecedented borrowing, taxation and spending powers to run up £351billion in joint debt, to be handed out as grants rather than loans that must be paid back.
The cash will be distributed as part of a £1.6trillion total package that includes the bloc’s next sevenyear budget.
Integration
French President Emmanuel Macron, one of the architects of the plan, hailed the agreement as the biggest jump in EU integration since the euro was introduced in 1999.
He said: “Since the euro, we have not seen such progress.”
The deal was thrashed out without a single public vote being cast after almost 100 hours of acrimonious negotiations between EU governments.
Under the agreement, many countries will be forced to increase their annual contribution to the EU budget.
Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte was criticised for sticking up for his domestic voters by opposing the creation of a common debt fund and the flow of funds from richer northern European taxpayers to their neighbours in the south.
The deep divisions among member states are expected to linger for years to come as future plans are drawn up to start repaying the EU’s new collective debt after 2028. European Council President Charles Michel said: “These were of course difficult negotiations in very difficult times for all Europeans.”
The summit ran into a fifth day, breaking the EU’s previous record for a single negotiation in Nice 20 years ago. Leaders including Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sanchez and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were seen going through documents while wearing face masks.
Tory MPs said the agreement showed Britain had made a “lucky escape” by quitting the EU when it did.
Veteran Brexiteer Sir Bill Cash said: “It’s huge. They’ve been wanting to do this for decades because it’s only by having tax revenues they can turn the EU into a political union. They’ve seized the opportunity of this coronavirus fund to move the integration process forward very significantly.
“Underneath this whole fund there are very serious implications for the people of Europe in what is an undemocratic forum.”
Former Brexit minister David Jones said: “Had we still been a member, we’d end up taking the second-largest share of bailing out countries right across the continent. Fortunately, we’re not and I think in hindsight more or less everybody, whether they voted to leave or not, will realise Britain has had a lucky escape on this occasion.
“This is another step towards an increase in powers for the European Commission and reduction in power for the national government.
“It’s a further step along the road to a creation of a country called Europe.”