As the COVID-19 epidemic in Europe gradually abates and begins to "unwind", the EU is drawing up a blueprint for post-coVID-19 economic recovery. On June 19, the European Commission held a summit of member states' leaders in the form of video conference to discuss hot issues such as the EU multi-year financial framework and the EU Recovery Fund plan.

At the end of last year, after taking office, the new EU leadership pledged to adopt the 2021-2027 EU fiscal budget as soon as possible, so as to focus on the "green plan" determined by the European Commission. But the coVID-19 outbreak has added a huge hurdle to the EU's plans. The eu's top priority is to agree on the allocation and implementation of the 750 billion euro post-epidemic economic "revitalization Plan" proposed by the European Commission in May. President of the European Council Michel Michel and President of the European Commission Von der Leyen both stressed that now is a time to reflect the EU's "spirit of solidarity" and a historic opportunity for European businesses to adjust. One senior EU official said that failing the "budget and revitalization plan" hurdle would scuff any ambitious eu plans.

Before the outbreak, the eu's 27 members failed to agree on a budget for 2021-2027 because of the size of the budget and the unwillingness of some member states to accept their share of assessed contributions. However, one wave followed another. The sudden outbreak of the epidemic has caused the European economy to sink into the trough, with a large number of businesses closing down and unemployment rising, which is a further blow to the eu economy, which is already sluggish in recovery. The European Commission had to unveil a €750 billion "revitalization plan" for the economy before the budget was approved.

Eu analysts said the COVID-19 outbreak had not only exposed gaps in health, epidemic prevention and infrastructure, but had further exacerbated political divisions within the EU. The 27 EU members differ greatly in economic development levels. In addition, they differ in religion, culture and historical traditions. There are huge differences between northern and southern MEMBERS, CENTRAL and Eastern European members and developed members in Western Europe on issues such as Brexit, the allocation of refugee quotas and agricultural subsidies. The European Commission's "revitalization Plan" is a mix of loans and subsidies to help member states with varying degrees of impact, of which €500 billion will be distributed in the form of subsidies to the most affected southern members and another €250 billion will be distributed in the form of loans. The initiative was supported by an overwhelming majority of members, especially in southern European countries such as Spain, Italy and Greece, which have been severely affected by the epidemic. However, it was firmly opposed by the Four countries, namely the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark and Sweden. The budget-busting countries have delayed the eu budget. Now the EU has decided to "give away" large sums of money to southern European members. They do not want to "give away" too much, accuse the southern members of benefiting too much and treating others unfairly, and demand that all the money should be made in the form of loans, accompanied by strict measures on their use and a regulatory mechanism on the scope of investment.

According to people present at the meeting, the summit was in effect a "sounding out" among EU members, and no agreement on such a big issue could be reached without a "physical meeting". In past EU summits or council of Ministers, so-called "corridor diplomacy" between member states or interest groups was often used during tea breaks or breaks, and such lobbying often played a decisive role. Video conferencing is an emergency response at a particular time and there is a lack of communication. Sure enough, at the summit, members sang their own tunes on key issues, and the "money-savers" tried to curb the European Commission's "madness" of throwing money at southern members.

Judging by the comments so far, the outlook is not bright. Michel described the atmosphere at the summit as "constructive" and called on members to show good faith, not to dwell on details, but to consider the eu's unity and overall development. "Special circumstances call for special decisions," he said. He will also put forward some concrete proposals for discussion in the near future, with a view to reaching an agreement before the summer holidays in July. Mr Von der Leyen has also set a "timetable" for the end of July. The slogan "Time is money" was even used again to call for faster negotiations. The summit left a host of unanswered questions: Can the €750bn support an economic revival? How to divide the subsidy and loan ratio? How to determine the conditions and amount of aid? What are the priorities and size of the long-term budget? All sides are looking forward to a "substantive summit" of the European Council in mid-July.

According to EU procedures, even if members reach an agreement at next month's summit, there is still a long way to go: first, it must be unanimously approved by the European Parliament and the parliaments of the 27 member states, then a legal text in more than 20 languages will be approved by the European Parliament and national parliaments. In the process, any member's desertion will result in the failure of all parties' efforts. The Commission stressed that the revitalization Plan and the draft 2021-2027 budget must be put into effect on January 1, 2021. So time is running out.

In the face of the weak economic recovery, the European Union international terrorism threat still exists and more and more serious social problem, "o", and the old Allies of the United States has often been testy, geopolitical situation grim, the European Union, weaken the context of international status, the eu intends to 27 members, gathering together "bulk", in order to realize the economic, political, diplomatic and military independence, the construction of "unity, unified, strong" the European Union, plays its role in the international pattern. Germany will assume the rotating presidency of the European Union in the second half of this year. Some people have high hopes that Germany will play a leading role. But analysts point out that the presidency has a limited "unique role" under the EU system, with any no vote "upsetting the whole plate" and with Chancellor Angela Merkel's term due to expire at the end of next year, Germany cannot be expected to stand on its own two heads. It remains to be seen whether leaders at the Eu summit in July will come face to face with each other.