BRUSSELS, July 18-- A special summit grouping heads of state and government of the European Union (EU) member states on Saturday failed to reach consensus on its multiannual budget and an ambitious recovery plan designed to lift the bloc out of the crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic. The leaders will reconvene on Sunday noon, a spokesman for the European Council President Charles Michel said on Twitter late Saturday night. The summit was supposed to run from Friday to Saturday. The summit, the first face-to-face one since the outbreak of the pandemic, came at a critical moment as the bloc is seeking a consensus on the European Commission-proposed 750-billion-euro recovery plan. The next seven-year EU budget worth more than one trillion euros is another focus of the summit. |