EU economy to shrink by 7.5% in 2020

European Union (EU) economic growth is on course to shrink by 7.5 percent for the whole year of 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic has hardly hit economic activities across the bloc, the European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services Thierry Breton said on Friday.

"Today, in the European Union, we are roughly heading for 5 percent to 10 percent (of contraction), that is to say, around 7.5 percent (on average). If things don't get better and there is a second peak of (coronavirus outbreak), things can get worse," Breton told France 2 television.

"Everything depends on the speed at which the economy will recover," he said. "We're still in the midst of the pandemic and we're going to learn to live with it for several months."

Facing an unprecedented economic shock, European leaders on Thursday failed to bridge differences over the size and the shape of the rescue package which aims at supporting the bloc's most affected members and preparing for post-pandemic recovery.

"Germany doesn't have the first penny to finance its own plan. It will have to borrow. Same thing for the Netherlands. And for France. Everyone will need an emergency type fund," Breton said.

"I think they will all agree to define the details of this fund. We're going step by step but we're making progress," he added.