European Union leaders’ negotiations over an economic recovery fund ran into difficulty late on Friday because of differences over the conditions for access to the scheme, European officials said.
EU LEADERS HOLD DIAMETRICALLY DIFFERENT OPINIONS
EU leaders ended their first day of discussions in Brussels and will resume discussions on Saturday at 11 a.m. (0900 GMT).
The 26 leaders’ views on their stimulus plan were “diametrically different”, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said earlier, after hours of talks on how to breathe life into economies ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic.
Several northern states, including the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark, Finland and Sweden, believe Paris and Berlin are too ready to give out money to more affected states.
The Hague especially wants payments to be conditioned on reforms.