As businesses cautiously open their doors in
some European countries and some of the
EU’s half a billion citizens begin to venture
out, the leaders are set to endorse a series
of urgent spending measures and debate a
massive recovery plan they hope to introduce
in coming weeks.
The summit — their fourth video-conference
since the outbreak struck northern Italy two
months ago — comes at an extremely delicate
time, with more than 100,000 Europeans known
to have died, according to the European Centre
for Disease Prevention and Control.
Trust between member states has eroded,
with hard-hit Italy and Spain notably lacking
confidence that relatively wealthier northern
EU partners like Austria, the Netherlands or
Germany — who have suffered less from the
virus — are willing to take swift, sweeping
measures backed by real economic firepower.
Speaking to the German parliament ahead of
the meeting, Chancellor Angela Merkel said
her government stands ready to help partners
in trouble and is already contributing to a
540-billion-euro ($587 billion) rescue package
expected to be endorsed.
The aim is to have that so-called “safety net” to
help pay lost wages, keep companies afloat and
fund health care systems in place by June 1.
But Merkel balked at the use of shared debt,
dubbed coronabonds, saying that parliaments
would have to endorse such a move anyway,
meaning it could take too long for such funds to
reach nations in trouble.
“One thing is clear: We should be prepared,
in the spirit of solidarity, to make significantly