“This is an unprecedented agreement between governments to revive the European economy”. European Parliament President David Sassoli said this on his social media account referring to the agreement reached by the European Council overnight: “We must now work to improve these instruments, we won’t give up on a more ambitious MFF and clarity on new own resources”. Surely, he went on to say, the European Parliament “will work to protect the interests of EU citizens”.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is holding the EU’s six-month presidency, looked tired but satisfied. “We had to show determination, it has not been easy, and the fact that the Council has lasted for so long shows how far apart our positions were”. However, she noted, “what matters for me is that in the end we are all pleased with what we have achieved”. “I hope that colleagues in the European Parliament have seen that we wrestled to come up with a good solution”, she added. “In February, we were unable to reach a deal, but now we did it. I am relieved”, Merkel stated. “It is a historic day for Europe!”, said French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking of a “massive recovery plan”, “a common loan to respond to the crisis in solidarity and to invest in our future”. “We had never done this before”, he commented, taking pride in the fact that “France has always supported this ambition”.