French finmin hopes for deal on EU's 750bn euro recovery plan in coming weeks

• The blueprint, if ratified by all, would stand as a milestone in a half-century of European integration, marking a step towards mutualised debt as a major funding tool for the first time.

PARIS: French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told France 2 television on Thursday that he hoped the European Union could reach a deal on the EU's planned 750 billion euros ($826.1 billion) economic recovery package in the coming weeks.

The blueprint, if ratified by all, would stand as a milestone in a half-century of European integration, marking a step towards mutualised debt as a major funding tool for the first time and paving the way for greater EU powers of taxation.

However, fiscally conservative northern countries have resisted pressure from others in the EU to take on mutual debt to protect the EU's single market of 450 million people from being splintered by divergent economic growth and wealth levels.