- Title: Macron meets with Sweden's Lofven in Paris ahead of EU summit
- Date: 16th July 2020
- Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (JULY 16, 2020) (AGENCY POOL) FRENCH PRESIDENT, EMMANUEL MACRON, WALKING TOWARDS ELYSEE PRESIDENTIAL PALACE STEPS MACRON STANDING BY ELYSEE STEPS CAR TRANSPORTING SWEDISH PRIME MINISTER, STEFAN LOFVEN, ARRIVING / LOFVEN EXITING CAR, BEING GREETED BY MACRON / LOFVEN AND MACRON WALKING UP STEPS, POSING FOR PHOTOS, ENTERING ELYSEE REPUBLICAN GUARDS, OFFICIALS ENTERING ELYSEE FRENCH FLAG FLYING
- Embargoed: 30th July 2020 12:15
- Keywords: EU Elysee France Lofven Macron Sweden recovery fund
- Location: PARIS, FRANCE
- City: PARIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001CN27OZR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday (July 16) met with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven in Paris on the eve of a European Union Summit that's set to decide the fate of the pandemic-struck bloc's economic recovery plan.
The meeting came a day after Macron met with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez at the Elysee presidential palace.
EU leaders will meet in Brussels on Friday (July 17) and Saturday (July 18) in their first face-to-face summit since lockdowns began in March, and the discussions are expected to be fraught with division.
The EU Commission, with the backing of France, Germany, Spain and Italy, has proposed a 750 billion euro ($850 billion) recovery fund, two-thirds of which were to come in the form of grants.
But for the plan to pass, member states should convice Sweden, the Netherlands, Austria and Denmark to drop their opposition. The EU's "frugal four" have called for the fund to be issued through loans instead of grants
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