EU still looking for solutions to budget deal block after Hungary and Poland vetoes

France’s Europe minister has said that the European Union is looking into solutions to its budget stalemate after Hungary and Poland vetoed the 2021-2027 budget deal over concerns around a ‘rule of law’ provision.

Speaking on Wednesday, French Europe Minister Clement Beaune said “a solution will be found in the coming weeks” despite the issues that prompted the two member states to block the EU’s €1.8 trillion ($2.1 trillion) financial package.

The budget includes a large Covid-19 economic recovery plan.

The French minister’s confident comments come a day after the EU Council’s German presidency said that it was confident of securing a solution to Hungarian leader Viktor Orban and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki’s opposition to a provision that would make access to money dependent on member states respecting the rule of law. 

On Wednesday, Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa backed the Hugarian and Polish position, calling for the EU to return to the agreement that was made at the summit in July, before the rule of law provision was included. 

EU leaders are set to hold a video conference on Thursday that, originally, was supposed to focus on the bloc’s response to coronavirus, but is now expected to shift its attention to the outstanding budget issues.

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