Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, right, and Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte pose for the media at the Moncloa palace in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, July 8. The leaders of Italy and Spain, the two countries first affected by the coronavirus in Europe and among the worst-hit globally, are urging fellow members of the European Union to agree next week on “ambitious terms” for a recovery fund to shore up the pandemic’s economic fallout. Southern European countries are pressing for a no-strings-attached approach in the EU’s recovery fund that will be discussed at a meeting of the bloc’s 27 members on July 17-18. The 750 billion-euro fund drawn up by the EU’s executive Commission is made up mostly of grants, something opposed by countries dubbed as the “Frugal Four” -- Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden -- which are reluctant to give money away without strings attached. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte says the EU can’t take a cautious path in its response to the pandemic because that would endanger the union’s common market and economy.-AP

Source: The Standard July 08, 2020 14:26 UTC