On Thursday evening, leaders of the 27 EU countries did not agree on a package of economic support measures to mitigate the effects of the corona crisis. They have agreed to make another attempt in two weeks.
The Italy, Spain and France want to open the money tap, but Germany and the Netherlands are blocking that.
The leaders of the 27 EU Member States held a video conference for six hours to talk about securing a credit facility with a size of 2 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the various economies.
The money must come from the so-called European Stability Mechanism (ESM), a permanent emergency fund for the nineteen euro countries. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will also speak on Friday about the corona crisis and possible support measures.
Follow the latest developments around the virus in our live blog.
The coronavirus in short
- The coronavirus mainly spreads from person to person via sneezing and cough drops. The chance of becoming infected through surfaces such as door handles is small. This chance decreases if you wash your hands often.
- You can considerably reduce the chance of spreading by keeping at least 1.5 meters away from others.
- An infected person infects two to three others on average. Precautions are necessary to contain this.
- The vast majority of patients have mild (flu-like) complaints.
- Almost all deaths involve the elderly or other vulnerable persons, such as heart, lung or diabetes patients. If everyone complies with the measures, this reduces their risks.
- Read here what precautions you should take.
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