EU leaders extend talks for recovery fund deal

Brussels

EU leaders ended a second day of heated discussions late Saturday without a deal under their belt on a shared economic stimulus package to recoup the damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic, but agreed to take another stab after a night's sleep. The 27 heads of government are to reconvene on Sunday for further talks, adding an extra day.

"The deliberations are at an important stage," a German diplomatic source said. "It cannot be said whether there will be a solution tomorrow," Deutsche press agency (dpa) reported. "But it is worth continuing the work, because there is a broad readiness among the member states to find a solution," the source added.

In an effort to break deadlock that developed after marathon 14-hour talks on the first day of the Brussels summit, European Council President Charles Michel presented a new proposal for a planned 750-billion-euro package on Saturday.

Following weeks of frantic consultations and some vocal criticism, the senior EU official changed the composition of the stimulus package, suggesting that the fund be paid out in 450 billion euros in grants and 300 billion euros in loans.