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A30 world news
Diabierna 20 november 2020

EU leaders try to solve political fight blocking big budget

the “rule-of-law” mechanism will the funds to be released. The precon-
be used as an ideological weapon to dition for that is that we find a solu-
punish them. tion."
The Polish parliament passed a reso- In France, European affairs minister
lution Thursday backing the govern- Clement Beaune warned that if Po-
ment’s plan to veto the EU budget land and Hungary stick to their posi-
if it includes the rule-of-law con- tions, all other member states could
dition. The resolution was largely try to find a way forward without the
symbolic, its stated purpose being to pair.
strengthen Prime Minister Mateusz “As a last resort, we would look at
Morawiecki’s position. ways to go ahead without the coun-
The resolution calls it unacceptable tries who block, as Europe can’t be
and inconsistent with the EU treaty held hostage by a certain number
to apply “different standards” to dif- of governments who don’t want to
ferent members. move forward,” Beaune said.
In September, the EU’s executive Guy Verhofstadt, an influential law-
commission said in its first report maker, echoed Beaune's stance in
on adherence to the rule of law that proposing that the 750 billion-euro
(AP) — EU leaders on Thursday violate democratic norms — some- democratic standards face big chal- recovery fund could be implemented
sought ways to resolve a diplo- thing that both Poland and Hungary lenges in Hungary and Poland, not- anyway.
matic dispute with members Po- have been accused of doing for years. ing threats to the judicial systems, an-
land and Hungary to unlock a 1.8 ti-corruption frameworks and media “This means we could finance the
trillion-euro ($2.1 trillion) bud- The dispute risks delaying the roll- freedom. recovery fund by contributions and
get and recovery package aimed out of funds that are urgently needed new own resources from 25 member
at putting the economy back on to weather the economic impact of a The EU has opened legal proce- countries, limited to the projects in-
track after the pandemic. new wave of coronavirus infections dures against the two countries over troduced by the governments of the
that risks pushing the region into an- what it considers systemic threats to 25 countries that apply the criteria,
Several EU countries, including other recession. the rule of law. “All I can say is that including a solid rule of law mecha-
France, have already warned they many member states of the European nism," he wrote in an op-ed letter
don't expect Thursday's talks, initially “It is in the interest of everyone that Union are watching very carefully “Like the euro, it would be open for
planned to focus mainly on the CO- we move quickly on this. People’s how the issue of rule of law is han- Hungary and Poland to join once they
VID-19 crisis, will settle the bloc's lat- jobs depend on this,” European dled," said German Foreign Minister fully accept and fulfil the conditions."
est crisis. Instead, the leaders opened Commission Vice President Frans Heiko Maas, whose country current-
the summit by immediately centering Timmermans said. “Our economic ly holds the rotating presidency of the In terms of the budget, if leaders fail
on the standoff instead. recovery depends on this. All that is EU Council. to break the stalemate before the end
The deal for the budget and recovery being asked of member states is to re- He added that many member coun- of the year, the bloc will continue to
fund looked well on track to enter spect the treaties they have signed and tries were not prepared to compro- spend but function on limited re-
into force in January — until Hun- ratified. That’s it.” mise. sources, with a maximum of one
gary and Poland vetoed it this week. twelfth of the budget for the previous
They objected to a new “rule-of-law Poland and Hungary say they vetoed “That’s why the starting point is dif- financial year to be spent each month.
mechanism” that would allow the the budget for 2021-2027 and the ficult, and at the same time many Many projects for Poland and Hun-
bloc to deny funds to countries that massive aid plan because they think countries in Europe are waiting for gary could be held up.

Over 4,700 jobs at risk as UK fashion chains seek rescue

(AP) — Over 4,700 jobs working hard to secure a fu- stores and concessions and yet.
are at risk after the owner As a result, the spokesper- ture for both businesses.” employs 347 staff. EWM Group had already
of British fashion chains son said the company could placed its Edinburgh Wool-
Peacocks and Jaeger said no longer extend a so-called Cardiff-based Peacocks op- The administrators said no len Mill and Ponden Home
Thursday it had failed to standstill arrangement that erates 423 stores with 4,369 redundancies or store clo- businesses into administra-
find a buyer for the trou- Britain’s High Court first staff, while Jaeger runs 76 sures have been confirmed tion earlier this month.
bled businesses, which imposed six weeks ago and
like others in the sector allows the chains to carry on
are reeling from the coro- doing business.
navirus pandemic.
“Therefore, as directors, we
The two chains, which are have taken the desperately
owned by the struggling difficult decision to place
EWM retailing empire, have Peacocks and Jaeger into ad-
been put into a form of bank- ministration while those talks
ruptcy protection after a two- continue," the spokesperson
week deadline to find a buyer said.
passed. The administrators put in
A spokesperson for EWM charge of the chains remain
said the deterioration of the hopeful that a deal can be se-
retail sector during the cur- cured.
rent, second lockdown in “Jaeger and Peacocks are at-
England had made the sale tractive brands that have suf-
process “more complex” fered the well-known chal-
than hoped. During the lock- lenges that many retailers
down, which is due to last face at present," said Tony
until Dec. 2, all shops sell- Wright, joint administrator
ing items deemed as non- and a partner at business advi-
essential, such as clothes and sory firm FRP Advisory. “We
books, have been required to are in advanced discussions
close. with a number of parties and