⁍ EU leaders agreed at a marathon summit in July on the seven-year budget and the recovery plan.
⁍ The deal must still be approved by EU lawmakers and ratified by member states’ national parliaments.
⁍ An EU official said Sassoli’s appeal met with a cold reception.
– The president of the European Parliament made a personal appeal to EU leaders today to increase the bloc’s next seven-year budget by 39 billion euros. David Sassoli said the extra money would be a drop in the bucket compared to the combined 1.8 trillion euro size of the long-term budget and the recovery plan agreed upon at a summit in July, Reuters reports. “This is a paltry sum when set against an overall package, but one which would make an enormous difference to the citizens,” he said. EU leaders, however, rejected Sassoli’s appeal. “A series of leaders, starting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, answered him that there is no way the leaders will reopen the July deal,” an EU official said. “There was full unanimity on this.”
Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-recovery-budget/eu-parliament-chief-asks-leaders-for-more-money-to-unlock-eu-recovery-package-idUSKBN27025G