EU leaders on Thursday reached an agreement that would allow the bloc’s historic €1.8 trillion budget-and-recovery package to come into effect next year, ending a blockade by Hungary and Poland.
“Now we can start with the implementation and build back our economies,” European Council President Charles Michel tweeted after leaders sealed the agreement at a summit in Brussels. “Our landmark recovery package will drive forward our green & digital transitions,” he wrote.
The deal came after Hungary and Poland, which had initially blocked the package over opposition to a new mechanism linking EU funding to respect for the rule of law, agreed to a compromise negotiated by the German presidency of the Council of the EU.
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