BERLIN (GERMANY) – Chancellor Angela Merkel is all set to strengthen a divided European Union and help its hard-hit economy recover from the pandemic when Germany takes over the rotating presidency of the 27-member bloc on Wednesday.
In the last three months, critics have raised questions about the future of the bloc as borders were sealed and each state resorted, at least initially, to national policies to tackle COVID-19.
Merkel, who helped steer the EU through its debt and migrant crises, has emphasised the need for solidarity in tiding over the crisis.
“During the German EU Presidency we will do everything in our power to master this task together in a forward-looking way and to make Europe strong again,” the government said in a draft of its six-month presidency programme.
With Europe facing its deepest recession since World War Two, it must first agree on a multi-year budget of more than 1 trillion euros (911.96 billion pounds) and also on European Commission proposals for a recovery fund to help revive economies hardest hit, notably Italy and Spain, at a summit on July 17-18.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field