Next EU budget should be ‘Marshall Plan’ for Europe, says EU’s von der Leyen

The next EU budget should take the form of a new “Marshall Plan” to stoke Europe’s recovery from the coronavirus crisis, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday.

“We know in this crisis that we need quick answers. We cannot take one, two or three years to invent news tools,” she told a news conference, adding that the long-term budget, known as the multiannual financial framework (MFF) was its strongest tool.

“We want to shape the MFF in such a way that it is a crucial part of our recovery plan… Many are calling right now for something which is called this Marshall Plan. I think the European budget should be the Marshall Plan we are laying out together as a European Union for the European people,” she said.

The Marshall Plan was a US aid program for Western Europe from 1948 to stimulate a recovery after World War Two. [Reuters]