In lieu of Monday's Franco-German fiscal.....>

EUROPE: In lieu of Monday's Franco-German fiscal proposal Goldman Sachs note

that "although it remains just a Franco-German proposal at an early stage of the

process, we think that this proposal - which is likely to influence the upcoming

EC proposal - is positive in three respects. First, the proposed amount is

larger than the initial amount alluded to by EC President, Ursula von der Leyen

after the last EU summit. Second, it suggested focusing on grants and not loans.

Third, it proposed allocating financial resources to the most affected sectors

and the most vulnerable countries (hence based on the needs and independent of a

country's size). Although the EU finance ministers will likely informally

discuss this Franco-German proposal at tomorrow's meeting, the official

decision-making process on both the EU budget and the Recovery Fund will only

start with the release of the EC proposal expected next week."