French President Emmanuel Macron (left) and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte (right) met for dinner at a restaurant in Scheveningen, near The Hague, on Tuesday, June 23. (Mark Rutte/Twitter photo)
THE HAGUE--French President Emmanuel Macron was in The Hague on Tuesday evening for talks with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte ahead of continuing negotiations about the European Union’s (EU’s) 750-billion-euro COVID-19 recovery programme.
European leaders are due to meet face to face on July 17 and 18, after last week’s video conference failed to bring any concrete results.
The Netherlands is under pressure from France to soften its opposition to making part of the recovery package a gift, but the Netherlands is keen to see all financial aid made in the form of loans which would have to be repaid.
Last week the Netherlands and its partners in the “frugal four” group of European countries reiterated their support for loans to aid economic recovery and warned that all spending must be responsible, this time in a letter in the Financial Times.
Macron and Rutte were able to move forward during talks in the Netherlands over the EU budget and recovery fund, a French presidential official said on Wednesday.
“This exchange made progress,” the official said, adding that the objective remained to achieve a European accord at the European Council on July 17.
A photo moment over dinner has become somewhat of a tradition with Rutte and Macron, according to the Dutch NRC Handelsblad newspaper. This time the two leaders met at a restaurant in the seaside resort of Scheveningen, near The Hague.
