After a tough negotiation, European Union leaders agreed on a massive stimulus plan for their coronavirus-shattered economies in one of the longest EU summits in history. Notably, the European Commission unveiled a plan at the end of May to borrow 750 billion euros on the market and then disburse to EU countries, which will include 500 billion euros in grants and 250 billion euros in loans. This will help them recover from the coronavirus slump (read: Time for Europe ETFs on Stimulus Optimism?).

The initiative was initially viewed as incredible since Germany “had always opposed the idea of jointly-issued debt, even during previous crises,” per CNBC. Austria, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark, however, were also against the concept of a grant. Instead, they had supported the loan format and seek economic reform commitments in response to any financial aid, CNBC had noted.

So, there were big differences on the allocation of the stimulus between grants and loans, over the nature of its investment plans and on the procedure to link it with the EU’s democratic values, per CNBC.

Details of the Latest Agreement

At the meeting, the leaders agreed to distribute 390 billion euros, out of total 750 billion funds, in the form of grants — down from an initial proposal made by France and Germany in May for 500 billion euros of grants. The EU agreed to repay all the new debt by 2058. Meanwhile, member states will also have to come up with plans on how the new funds will be invested.

About 30% of their total expenditure from the recovery fund and the next EU budget will be allocated to climate areas. The EU seeks to be climate neutral by 2050. Apart from this stimulus, the European Central Bank is buying government bonds as part of its Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program, which totals 1.35 trillion euros.

Moreover, the ECB restarted QE from November 2019 and has a negative interest in place. In April, finance ministers had already approved a 540-billion-euro package of short-term fiscal stimulus. Plus, the individual governments announced their individual economic stimulus packages(read: ETFs to Gain on ECB's Coronavirus Emergency Stimulus Rollout).

ETFs to Gain

Given the stimulus optimism, the following ETFs should gain ahead. These ETFs gained about 1% on Jul 21, reflecting the stimulus news. Notably, the common currency euro also gained strength and Invesco CurrencyShares Euro Trust FXE added 0.66% on the day (see all European Equity ETFs here).

Winning ETFs in Focus

iShares MSCI Austria Capped ETF (EWO) – Up 1.79% on Jul 21

Global X MSCI Portugal ETF (PGAL) – Up 1.61% on Jul 21

Global X MSCI Norway ETF (NORW)– Up 1.39% on Jul 21

iShares MSCI Ireland ETF (EIRL) – Up 1.3% on Jul 21

iShares MSCI Europe Financials ETF (EUFN) – Up 0.99% on Jul 21

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