After one of the longest and most divisive summits in the EU’s history, Charles Michel, President of the EU Council, met reporters just before 6am and declared "We did it! Europe is united!”EU chiefs also signed off the EU’s seven-year budget, after reducing some key programmes, including health and innovation spending plans. The UK is not part of the recovery package or the EU's budget, having left the EU on January 31 this year. The EU has previously borrowed jointly on financial markets, most notably after the eurozone crisis in 2010, but not on this scale. This summit came within a few minutes of being the longest ever, coming second to the Nice meeting in 2000 when EU enlargement was debated.

Source: Daily Mirror July 21, 2020 11:37 UTC