Belgium

Brussels, Jul 21 (AP/PTI) Weary European Union leaders finally clinched an unprecedented 1.82 trillion euro (USD 2.1 trillion) budget and coronavirus recovery fund early Tuesday, somehow finding unity after four days and as many nights of fighting and wrangling over money and power in one of their longest summits ever.

To confront the biggest recession in its history, officials said the EU had a consensus on a 750 billion euro coronavirus fund to be sent as loans and grants to the countries hit hardest by the virus.

BRUSSELS (AP) — Weary and bleary European Union leaders temporarily broke up their summit at dawn on the fourth day of acrimonious haggling over an unprecedented 1.85 trillion-euro ($2.1 trillion) EU budget and coronavirus recovery fund to tackle the crisis. They committed to pick up the fight again later Monday.

BRUSSELS (AP) — Marathon European Union talks to agree an unprecedented 1.85 trillion-euro ($2.1 trillion) EU budget and coronavirus recovery fund entered a third day Sunday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel warning that the summit of 27 leaders could still end without a deal.

The bitter negotiations, which are taking place amid the unprecedented crisis of the coronavirus pandemic, have underscored the deep fissures within the 27-nation bloc with the traditional Franco-German alliance struggling to get its way.

Brussels, Jul 19 (AP/PTI) European Union leaders on Saturday extended their summit by an extra day, convinced they were finally closing in on a deal for an unprecedented 1.85 trillion euro (USD 2.1 trillion) EU budget and coronavirus recovery fund, an EU official said.

Heading into a balmy summer night, a deal was still far off, but several key nations said negotiations were at least heading in the right direction despite tensions that were running high after months of battling the pandemic.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte held out against his European Union counterparts on Saturday as negotiations on a massive stimulus fund ran into a second day and officials predicted a rough road ahead.

With the coronavirus pandemic dealing many European economies their worst economic shock since World War Two, leaders say they must agree on a 750 billion euro ($856 billion) recovery fund and a new 1 trillion euro EU budget.

BRUSSELS, July 17 (Xinhua) -- High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said on Friday he was deeply concerned over the growing use of sanctions, or the threat of sanctions, by the United States against European companies and interests.

"We have witnessed this developing trend in the cases of Iran, Cuba, the International Criminal Court and most recently the Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream projects," Borrell said in a statement.

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders were hunting for compromises Saturday as a summit to reach a deal on an unprecedented 1.85 trillion euro ($2.1 trillion) EU budget and coronavirus recovery fund entered its second day with tensions running high.

A full day and night of discussions by the 27 leaders on Friday only added to the irritations over how the huge sums should be spent and what strings should be attached.

Brussels, Jul 18 (AP/PTI) The European Union is warning the Trump administration to hold off threatening trade sanctions against EU companies involved in the completion of new German-Russian and Turkish-Russian natural gas pipelines and instead discuss differences as allies.

This week, the Trump administration warned companies involved in the projects they will be subject to US penalties unless they halt their work.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Friday said he saw less than a 50% chance that European leaders would reach a deal on the European Recovery Fund at their summit in Brussels.

“I would say less than 50%, but let’s be hopeful”, the Prime Minister said as negotiations on the fund were about to start.

“You never know, we could still come to a compromise. It’s still possible.”

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Friday he was optimistic that European Union leaders meeting in Brussels to discuss a proposed budget and economic recovery plan would reach an agreement but he was not sure when.

“We have intensive and long negotiations ahead of us,” Kurz said. “I came here to reach a result. I remain optimistic that it will work out but I can’t tell you when. The differences in the positions remain big and this means the negotiations will be long.”