German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, looks over papers with French President Emmanuel Macron during a round table meeting at an EU summit in Brussels, Monday, July 20. European Union leaders finally clinched a deal on an unprecedented 1.8 trillion-euro (US$2.1 trillion) budget and coronavirus recovery fund early Tuesday. That comes on top of the seven-year, 1 trillion-euro EU budget that leaders had been haggling over for months even before the pandemic. “This was a summit meeting where I believe the consequences will be historic,” said French President Emmanuel Macron. “The EU as a whole now has a big chance to come out stronger out of the crisis,” said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Source: The Standard July 21, 2020 05:26 UTC