France's Macron: France and Germany propose for EU to raise debt jointly

"The Franco-German initiative is a result of close cooperation with countries like Italy, Netherlands," French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters on Monday. "For the first time, France and Germany propose for the EU to raise debt jointly," Macron added.

Additional takeaways

"Recovery fund should be given 500 billion euros for EU grants to go to hardest-hit sectors and regions."

"This recovery plan will be supported by commitments from member states to undertake healthy economic policies and reform programme."

"These 500 billion euros will be grants and not loans. This a major step forward."

"Europe is drawing lessons from the past financial crisis."

Market reaction

The EUR/USD pair shot higher on these remarks and was last seen up 0.62% on the day at 1.0882.