Covid-19: EU ministers agree on half a trillion euro economic rescue plan

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte warned that the EU's very existence would be under threat if it could not come together to combat the Covid-19 pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus

European Union finance ministers on Thursday agreed on half-a-trillion euros worth of support for their coronavirus-battered economies but left open the question of how to finance recovery in the bloc headed for a steep recession.

The agreement was reached after EU powerhouse Germany, as well as France, put their feet down to end opposition from the Netherlands over attaching economic conditions to emergency credit for governments weathering the impacts of the pandemic, and offered Italy assurances that the bloc would show solidarity.

But the deal does not mention using joint debt to finance recovery - something Italy, France and Spain pushed strongly for