Police are on duty at the European Quarter in Brussels, Belgium, July 19, 2020. A special summit grouping heads of state and government of the European Union (EU) member states on Saturday failed to reach consensus on its multiannual budget and an ambitious recovery plan designed to lift the bloc out of the crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic. The leaders will reconvene on Sunday noon, a spokesman for the European Council President Charles Michel said on Twitter late Saturday night. The summit was supposed to run from Friday to Saturday. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)
Phil Hogan quit as the EU's Trade Commissioner on Wednesday after days of pressure over allegations that he breached COVID-19 guidelines during a trip to his native Ireland, saying it had become clear that the controversy was a distraction from his work.
The forced exit of a heavyweight from the bloc's executive will be a credibility blow to the team led by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for less than a year.
The Commission will play a key role in pushing across the line a 750 billion euro recovery fund for EU economies hammered by the coronavirus crisis, and Hogan himself had been making headway in fraught trade talks with the US.
"It was becoming increasingly clear that the controversy concerning my recent visit to Ireland was becoming a distraction from my work as an EU Commissioner and would undermine my work in the key months ahead," Hogan said in a statement.
"I deeply regret that my trip to Ireland - the country that I have been so proud to represent as a public servant for most of my adult life - caused such concern, unease and upset."
Hogan attended a golf dinner last week that outraged the Irish public and led to the resignation of an Irish minister and the disciplining of several lawmakers.
Hogan's political fortunes have faded fast. Only weeks ago, he had considered a bid to become the next director-general of the World Trade Organization.
Reuters