Eurozone talks break off without agreement on fight against pandemic
Finance ministers from the 19 countries that use the euro single currency have broken off talks amid deep divisions over how best to respond to the ravages of Covid-19 on European economies and will meet again on Thursday.
Eurozone chief Mario Centeno had been scheduled to hold a news conference on Wednesday morning, but EU headquarters said the event was cancelled, following talks deep into the night.
European governments are scrambling to put together hundreds of billions of euros to save lives as well as companies and families from going bankrupt.
Many countries worst hit by the virus are also those that can least afford the costs, like Italy and Spain.
But they are divided over how best to tackle the challenge.
Italy and Spain, backed by France, want to throw all the EU’s economic might into fighting the virus and damage from the disruption it has caused as soon as possible.
However, nations like Germany and the Netherlands want to keep something in reserve should things get even worse.
They are reluctant to share debt with EU partners without strict conditions out of concern that they might end up having to foot the bill.
