Eurozone asked to propose economic rescue plan amid COVID-19 crisis

European Union’s 27 leaders have reportedly debated on economic response to the coronavirus pandemic on March 26, and have urged the Eurozone finance ministers to come up with proposals on a joint response for recovery within 2 weeks to tackle the shredded economy across Europe. President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, participated in the joint video press conference of the members of the European Council in Brussels to draft measures to tackle the financial chaos and looming recession. 

The six-hour video conference presided by the EU leaders was also joined by Italy’s Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, who accused the union of timid response. In a statement released while the summit was ongoing, he stated, that the earlier draft of the pre-prepared action plan was “weak” compared to the gravity and scale of the crisis. The members agreed that an ambitious recovery plan was needed by a fortnight. The nations debated over raising funds through shared European debts, which they framed as “coronabonds”, and reached a unanimous decision. They ordered the finance leaders to present a proposal that requires the countries to pool resources in two weeks without suggesting any political guidance. 

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Dutch Prime Minister withdrew support

According to reports, except for Germany and Netherlands, at least nine countries including Italy and Spain where the pandemic has wreaked widescale havoc supported the “coronabonds”. They extended support in a letter ahead of the summit saying that the EU members must pool funds to formulate a joint debt instrument to rescue the members out of the unprecedented economic shock. Germany and the Netherlands, however, disregarded the proposal. The task, nevertheless, was assigned forward to the Eurogroup of single currency zone ministers. 

"These proposals should take into account the unprecedented nature of the COVID-19 shock affecting all our countries and our response will be stepped up, as necessary, with further action in an inclusive way, in light of developments, in order to deliver a comprehensive response," the summit statement read. Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, was quoted saying in a statement that his country was “against the proposal” and he could not foresee any circumstances for his country to change that stance. 

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