EU needs €1.5tn recovery fund to be ready by September, says commissioner

Economy and Financial Affairs head Paolo Gentiloni tells Italian TV a part of the package should be non-repayable

A man jogs along an empty street along the Seine river in Paris. The European Union's leaders are trying to hammer out an agreement for a €1.5 trillion package to help member states struggling with thShow more

A European Union recovery fund worth around €1.5 trillion (Dh6tn) needs to be available by mid-September and include loans as well as a portion of non-repayable money, the EU's economy and financial affairs commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said.

“Financing must be provided now,” Mr Gentiloni said in an interview with Italy’s Rai 3 television on Sunday. “We cannot wait two years, like it happened between the end of the World War II and the Marshall Plan,” he said.

EU leaders inched toward an agreement on their rebuilding plans during a video conference on Thursday, but they haven’t yet resolved differences over whether member states will be given grants or loans.

France and Spain are leading a group demanding the recovery is funded via handouts from a supercharged EU budget while the Netherlands and Austria are among countries insisting the additional funds should take the form of low-interest loans.

“Real budget transfers will be needed, not just loans,” French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters after the meeting. “If we let down a whole part of Europe, it’s Europe as a whole that will fall.”