Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said he still needs talks about the size and the shape of the European Commission’s stimulus plan to tackle the recession triggered by the coronavirus.
“This is the starting point for the negotiations,” Kurz said in a statement. “What’s positive is that the payments from the recovery fund have a clear time limit, and that this guarantees they aren’t the start of a permanent debt union. What still needs to be negotiated is the size and the split between grants and loans.”
Kurz has led a group of four rich member states also including the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden that outlined their opposition to a plan by Germany and France last weekend, seeking stimulus mostly given through loans to the countries most hit by the pandemic.
