'Defining moment' as EU executive pushes for €500bn in grants

“Member-states hate [EU taxes] because they basically lose power,” Philippe Lamberts, a Belgian Green MEP, told the Centre for European Reform think-tank on Wednesday. But he expressed hope EU finance ministers would change their attitudes. “I think that the pandemic and this recovery plan are gamechangers and if we agree to borrow together we will need to reimburse together … in a way the pandemic opened doors that many believed totally shut up until now.”