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EU Leaders Remain at Loggerheads Over Economic Solidarity

Jamie Dettmer

   The coronavirus crisis risks becoming an existential crisis for the
   European Union, say diplomats and analysts, asthe EUstruggles to
   coordinate a financial response to the pandemic.
   Last week,the EU's national leaders struck an interim agreement on a
   recovery deal with an emergency fund ofabout$581 million(a half-billion
   euros), which the hardest hit member states can tap into for immediate
   assistance.
   But the wrangling over how to cope withtheeconomic impact of the
   pandemic is far from over, and the overall$2trillion-plus economic
   packagemooted last week by the national leaders includes the budget
   costs of the EU itself for the next seven years.
   In fact, no final numbers,aside from the emergency fund, have yet been
   agreedupon,according toanalysts. Members states alreadywereat
   loggerheads over money before the coronavirus appeared,with sharp
   arguments between them about how to make up for the loss of Britain's
   financial contribution to the EU.
   The emergency relief package came after an ill-natured squabble and
   warnings byItalianPrimeMinisterGiuseppe Conte that the EU project
   itself was in jeopardy unless the wealthier northern states help bail
   out their poorer southern neighbors. It alsohas left unresolved whether
   aid from the emergency fund to countries like Italy and Spain will be
   in the form of loans, whichmustbe paid back,or grants, which won't.

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