German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron walked out on Rutte on Saturday, Bloomberg reported, after being unable to agree on the nature of the $860 billion package during negotiations in Brussels. As of Monday morning, leaders have still been unable to reach a deal.
A central issue was how much of the package would be given as grants and how much would be given as loans. Germany and France want around $456 billion to be given freely, while Rutte and his allies from Austria, Denmark and Sweden want the figure to be lower, Bloomberg said, citing an unnamed French diplomat.
After Saturday’s failed session, Rutte told reporters that Merkel and Macron “are walking away grumpy…A compromise is possible tomorrow but there remain big issues.” But Sunday’s discussions also failed, despite dragging on into the early hours of Monday. The leaders are set to make a fresh effort on Monday afternoon.
Anti-democratic developments in European nations like Hungary and Poland also hampered negotiations, according to Reuters.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban—who assumed sweeping new powers during the coronavirus crisis and has long been accused of degrading democracy, the freedom of the judiciary and the media in Hungary—told reporters Sunday: “I don’t know what is the personal reason for the Dutch prime minister to hate me or Hungary, but he is attacking so harshly.”
“I don’t like blame games but the Dutchman is the real responsible man for the whole mess,” Orban explained. “The Dutch prime minister, he is the fighter.”
Rutte and his allies want any stimulus funds to be withheld from leaders who are failing to protect democracy and respect the liberal democratic traditions of the EU. Ahead of the summit’s opening on Friday, Orban rejected the proposal.
“What’s going on is a little bit strange because there is a 100% agreement on the rule of law,” he said. “If somebody is not ready to accept the rule of law [they] should leave the European Union immediately. They should not be punished by money.”
Orban also said his opponents “inherited freedom, rule of law and political democracy” and did not have to fight against communism like him and other leaders from central and eastern Europe.
Rutte has previously described recent developments in Hungary—where Orban has been accumulating power—and Poland—where the right-wing populist Law and Justice party is continuing to entrench itself—as “very worrying.”
He told reporters earlier this month: “We have the principle of rule of law, and of democracy, and that Europe is not only a market and a currency, but also a community of values and you can have conditions.”
Other leaders called for unity amid the weekend deadlock. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Sunday, “We simply cannot afford to either appear divided or weak.”
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said that Europe was being “blackmailed” by the fiscal hawks. According to Bloomberg, Italy is considering pushing for agreement with the other 26 EU nations, leaving the Dutch out of discussions.