BY SAMUEL PETREQUIN, AP — Between the specter of Brexit, the coronavirus pandemic and a new leadership team facing a budget battle and bitterness over immigration, the European Union looked set to remember 2020 as an “annus horribilis.”
Instead, a last-minute trade deal with the United Kingdom coupled with the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines produced a sense of success for the 27-nation bloc and brought glimmers of hope to the EU’s 450 million residents.
After months of chaotic negotiations, the EU also will head into 2021 with both a long-term budget and a coronavirus recovery fund worth 1.83 trillion euros ($2.3 trillion) that could help member nations bounce back from Europe’s most brutal economic crisis since World War II.
