EU now sees 2020 GDP at -8.7% vs -7.7% back in the May forecast
- Euro area economy probably shrank by 13.5% in Q2
- Economic recovery will be uneven across member states
- There are 'sever' risks to the economic outlook, tilted to the downside
- Euro area economic divergences are 'more pronounced'
- Spain, France, Italy economies likely to shrink by more than 10% in 2020
- German economy likely to shrink by 6.3% in 2020
That isn't quite comforting news for the euro but make no mistake, this will start to present a problem for the region in the months/years ahead.
The imbalance in terms of economic welfare and how hard member states are hit from the virus outbreak is going to grow and cause a divergence in terms of policy views that should be adopted by the bloc.
The commission also stressed on the urgency for a recovery fund as such, but don't expect that sentiment to translate into a sure-fire compromise going into the 17-18 July meeting.
