The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is due to present an official proposal for Europe's economic recovery from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on Wednesday, dpa reported. Von der Leyen seeks to link the recovery plan to the next seven-year European Union budget. The plan involves raising several hundred billion euros on capital markets, most of which would be assigned as grants for investments in hard-up states. An EU plastic tax, a tax on digital businesses and the expansion of the European Emissions Trading System are three possibilities to help raise much needed cash, EU sources confirmed to dpa. France and Germany proposed a similar plan last week, under which the EU would set up a 500-billion-euro (549-billion-dollar) fund with the help of state guarantees to restart economies and help industries hit hard by the outbreak.
