After days and nights of negotiations at the longest EU Summit in 20 years, European leaders announced that they had reached agreement regarding a $857 billion pandemic recovery plan. Leaving perhaps her final mark on the European Union, Chancellor Angela Merkel was instrumental in achieving European consensus regarding this new plan. On July 23, the ACG hosted a discussion with Steven Erlanger, Chief Diplomatic Correspondent in Europe for the New York Times, who discussed what the recovery plan means for the EU and for Chancellor Merkel’s legacy.