EU leaders stood at an impasse on Monday after three days of haggling over a plan to revive economies throttled by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the chairman of their near-record-length summit urged them to make one last push on "mission impossible."
Charles Michel reminded the 27 leaders of the European Union that more than 600,000 people had now died as a result of the novel coronavirus around the world, and that it was up to them to stand together in the face of an unprecedented crisis.
"My hope is that we reach an agreement and that the headline ... tomorrow is that the EU has accomplished mission impossible," the European Council president said at their third dinner in a row at the Brussels conference center. "That is my heartfelt wish ... after three days of nonstop work."