A five-day EU summit – one of the longest in history – ended in the early hours of 21 July with a deal, thanks to EU leaders doling out goodies to all six countries threatening to veto a desperately needed €750bn coronavirus recovery fund.
The “frugal four” (the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark and Sweden) won an increases in their budget rebates, a much-hated system that the EU had hoped to dispose of after Brexit. Major cuts were made to EU health, research and climate funds in order to return rich countries millions of euros from their EU budget contributions. For the “illiberal two” (Hungary and Poland), provisions that would have made receipt of funds conditional on adhering to rule of law and climate principles were watered down.
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