Euro-area finance ministers agreed on the main elements of a small budget for the currency bloc but delayed talks on its financing, capping two years of fraught negotiations over a tool that falls far short of the original sweeping vision of French President Emmanuel Macron.
The compromise struck in the early hours of Thursday marks an effort to balance the fiscal restraint of the EU’s hawkish North against the South’s calls for spending to stimulate the economy. While the agreement on such a tool is significant step for the euro area, disagreement over its size and how the funds will be spent underscores the difficulties in setting up such a financing instrument.