The European Union’s economic response to COVID-19 has not been as fast or far-reaching as other major economies, inevitable perhaps for the rule-based 27-member bloc and it’s euro currency zone. The southern states, led by Italy and Spain are calling for a big step to save their stricken economies: mutualised debt in the form of a Coronavirus bond. Germany and other northern states are opposed.
Should the EU move closer to full economic union? Might the virus widen fault-lines and fuel a rise in anti-European sentiment? Which member states and industries are best, or least, well equipped for recovery?
Richard Mably joined Refinitiv in January as Head of News Performance after 33 years as a financial reporter and editor, 25 of them at Reuters where he specialised in energy and spent many happy years chasing oil ministers at OPEC meetings. He was Global Commodities and Energy editor at Reuters from 1997 to 2013, editor for Europe, Middle East and Africa from 2014-2016 and Global Editor for Financial Markets, Commodities and Energy from 2017-2019. Before that he worked for Lloyds of London Press, Platts – where he set the cash price of Brent before futures took off – and AP-Dow Jones.
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