While the equity and oil markets cheered on Tuesday the historic deal that European Union leaders sealed to assist Europe’s recovery from the pandemic, European lawmakers, economists, and climate activists criticized the cuts to funds for climate-friendly policies and called for specific targets toward achieving the EU’s ambitious Green Deal goals. Following five days of negotiations and disagreements over how much and under what conditions EU states would get loans and/or grants for economic recovery, the leaders of the 27-member bloc finally clinched a deal for the EU’s budget for the next seven years and on a recovery fund to help countries bolster their economies ravaged by the pandemic. At the first in-person summit in Brussels since the pandemic hit, the EU leaders agreed on an overall budget of US$2.1 trillion (1.824 trillion euro), which includes the 2021-2027 budget of US$1.24 trillion (1.074 trillion euro) plus an extraordinary recovery […]