EU exec to propose 1 trln euro recovery plan with grants and loans

The European Commission will present a pandemic recovery plan next week that will exceed 1 trillion euros in a mix of grants and loans, Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said on Tuesday.

Dombrovskis, speaking after a meeting of EU finance ministers, welcomed a proposal by France and Germany for a 500 billion euro fund to disburse grants to worst-hit regions and sectors.

But he said the Commission would be bolder.

"Our ambition is not to increase the financing capacity in the range of hundreds of billions, but rather by a figure exceeding a trillion euros," he said.

"Of course in this case we are talking about both in loans and grants."

Dombrovskis said the Commission, like France and Germany, would link access to the recovery money to sound economic policies and structural reforms.

This could become a friction point with Italy and...