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Everyone who has ever been on the EU summit on the future of the budget, knows that in these days in building “Europe” in the centre of Brussels there is no space not filled with people from delegations of member States of the EU, of the European Parliament and the European Commission. Even a spacious hall on the ground floor and all the corridors are cluttered with tables, chairs, cameras and tripods – here unfold a giant press center for media from the countries of the European Union, and offices are seated journalists from other countries.

The striking change that has occurred because of the epidemic of the coronavirus. In the first few months of full-time summit all of the previous March was held online conference- journalists are generally not allowed in the building, where the negotiations are. They were forbidden to ask the traditional questions the incoming and outgoing heads of state and government, leaving only the possibility to record the treatment of those who he wants to communicate something to the media. Yes, and the delegations of States which usually numbers around 20 members, this time was reduced to six people maximum. Experts who are usually on the go count all the arrangements for a specific amount for their countries remained in the Brussels offices and was connected with their delegations on the Internet. Handshake, including at the level of leaders, was under complete prohibition. But the delegation members were obliged in the course of the meetings, to wear masks and to comply with the 1.5-m distance. To do this, negotiations were taken to a large hall for 350 people, and equipped with HVAC equipment that provides a continuous supply of fresh air.

But in fact what is happening, nothing has changed. The countries of Northern Europe, which are the largest contributors to the EU budget, led by the Prime Minister of the Netherlands mark Rutte, as in all previous summits, refused to selflessly lend a helping hand to their southern neighbors, the most affected by the coronavirus, such as Italy and Spain. The proposal of the head of the European Council Charles Michel to allocate 500 billion in the form of grants, and only 250 billion in the form of loans, were not satisfied with the “stingy four” – the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark and Sweden, which on the second day of the summit joined by Finland. The representatives of these countries to the last, assured the Federal Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel and President of France Emmanuel Makron that grant aid to southern Europe will force all Europeans to pay off foreign debts. And loans motivate Italy and Spain to spend funds received for their designated purpose – that is, the recovery of the economy. This requirement, as well as set mark Rutte condition that the recipients of European money should��s will agree to reform their economies coordinated with all member States of the EU, has brought negotiations to a standstill. On Friday, the European leaders for 14 hours to conduct negotiations in different formats, on Saturday the debate went all day, and, in the end the negotiations were only the leaders of the “miserly four” and France and Germany. Journalists on duty at the entrance to the building “Europe” reported that around midnight he left enraged by the stubbornness of the two sides of him and Merkel.

on Sunday morning, the German Chancellor at the entrance in Europe said in the camera, it is possible that consent will not be achieved: “There is good will, but a lot of different positions.” The fact that during the negotiations there was a new problem. During the discussion of the budget on 2021-2027 years, the speaker of Parliament David Sassòli demanded that full access to European money was open only to those countries that comply with legal and democratic norms of the European Union.

“We must create a mechanism that will ensure respect for our values. The EU is not an ATM”, – hot Sassòli. Against such action immediately made Poland and Hungary, which Brussels blames the violation of the principles of the legal state of the European Union. Moreover, the Hungarian delegation did not rule out that, if this item will be inscribed in the budget, the country will veto the adoption of the entire document.

the EU Summit ended on Sunday evening, and showed the main thing: those countries that pay the most, are tired of empty talk of solidarity, from disputes with the countries of Eastern Europe, from a lack of economic reforms in southern Europe, and believe neither the one nor the other.

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Jennifer Alvarez is an investigative journalist and is a correspondent for European Union. She is based in Zurich in Switzerland and her field of work include covering human rights violations which take place in the various countries in and outside Europe. She also reports about the political situation in European Union. She has worked with some reputed companies in Europe and is currently contributing to USA News as a freelance journalist. As someone who has a Masters’ degree in Human Rights she also delivers lectures on Intercultural Management to students of Human Rights. She is also an authority on the Arab world politics and their diversity.