Germany's Merkel warns EU leaders may not reach a deal on coronavirus stimulus plan

After European Union leaders entered the third day of negotiations on their coronavirus stimulus deal, German Chancellor Angela Merkel reportedly said that it was possible that they might not reach a final deal even on July 19.  All 27 member states are trying to hammer out a post-pandemic economic recovery grant that would pull their ailing economies out of recession.

However, Merkel remarked that though there was a lot of goodwill, there were still many positions. Adding that she would make every effort possible, the German chancellor said that there were high possibilities of reaching no deal even today.

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Fugitive Northern states 

The recovery package deal has created a tiff between the ‘richer’ northern states and southern states with the north, led by the Netherlands, demanding more cuts to the package. According to international media reports, even after two days of negotiation, the “frugal group” of richer northern nations have shown no willingness to back down from demand for cuts to package.

Previously, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte had accused the Netherlands and its ‘allies’ Austria, Sweden, Denmark and Finland of "blackmail". However, Hungarian Prime minister Viktor Orban has asserted that a deal was a must. He said that there were four broad divisive themes in the talks but the gathering was determined to seal a deal on July 19.

Germany and France, both powerbrokers of EU, are reportedly seeking a deal on 1.8 trillion euro package. On the other hand, Sweden has proposed to cut grants to 155 billion euros. On July 18, both Merkel and the French President Emmanuel Macron had left the meeting earlier, refusing to accept that the level of grants to be lowered to less than 400 billion euros.

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(Image credit: AP)