Displaying items by tag: rescue package

EU leaders have agreed on a 750 billion euro coronavirus relief package, both in loans and grants. A major accomplishment: for the first time all 27 members agreed to share the financial burden to rescue some of its members. However this is just the first step on a long road to recovery. The fine print is thorny. Any individual member state can delay disbursement of funds to another member by questioning the recipient's spending plans. For example, this would allow a country to put a temporary hold on funds for another if the Hague has a bone to pick about overspending. Not a veto, but it could delay the release of much-needed funds and pit countries against each other. Also money will not be released until 2022. So if Italy and Spain continue borrowing to pay for their domestic rescue plans, they will owe much more a year from now and be in a worse financial position to respond to any second coronavirus wave.