Budapest / Warsaw / Brussels (Reuters) – The European Union is facing a real crisis over the dispute over its financial plans for the next few years.
This could also lead to a delay in the payment of urgently needed corona aid. Hungary announced on Monday that it wanted to veto the EUR 1.8 trillion package. The government in Budapest does not want to accept that payments from EU pots should be linked to compliance with the rule of law. Poland also threatened another blockade.
In the afternoon the ambassadors of the 27 EU countries discussed the topic in Brussels. Then there should be a vote. A government spokesman said beforehand that Hungary would veto the EU budget for the years 2021 to 2027[nL8N2HW6I4] and insert the Corona reconstruction fund. The other EU members would have to change their course.
For years, the right-wing nationalist government of Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been accused of weakening basic democratic principles. Most EU countries therefore want to link payouts to the independence of the courts and the media, among other things. Orban has repeatedly denied the allegations and accused Brussels of double standards. Poland’s Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro said he was convinced that his government would also use its right of veto. Europe is in an important phase, and Poland can show that it does not want to restrict its sovereignty.
The EU agreed on the historic financial package in the summer – 750 billion euros for the Corona development fund and another 1.1 trillion euros for the medium-term EU budget. Since then, however, the details have been bitterly wrestled. A senior EU official told Reuters that if the results so far are stalled it would plunge the EU into crisis. Time is of the essence, especially with the Corona development fund. Countries severely affected by the pandemic such as Italy, Spain and France are to receive grants and loans from the relief fund at the beginning of 2021. This is intended to accelerate the economic recovery.
The EU representative added that there were behind the scenes negotiations to resolve the differences. A spokesman for the EU Commission said that because Germany is currently holding the EU Council Presidency, the government in Berlin must now find a solution. The Greens demanded that Chancellor Angela Merkel should be more involved. “Wrong compromises are now out of place. Now there is a risk of revenge for the fact that the Chancellor has not intervened in the negotiations so far,” said Green politician Rasmus Andresen.
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