Virus row could cause the EU to collapse, warns Italy

ITALIAN PM Giuseppe Conte yesterday warned the coronavirus crisis could cause the collapse of the European Union.

He hit out during a row between member states over how to share debts created by the economic tsunami sweeping the bloc.

Italy, backed by six other nations, wants EU countries to take on a bigger share of eurozone-wide debts.

But the Netherlands and Germany are opposed to the Italian proposal and want a bailout solution to come with stricter rules. It means the bloc has failed to reach a deal more than a month since the crisis gathered pace.

EU finance ministers held an online meeting last night to thrash out a £450billion support package.

Mr Conte warned failure to reach an agreement could lead to the break-up of the EU.

He said: ‘If we do not seize the opportunity to put new life into the European project, the risk of failure is real.’

Writing in German newspaper Bild, he added: ‘There’s no benefit to Germany if

Europe falls into recession. Our economies are being put to the test. We need to develop fiscal instruments to respond.

‘We are not demanding that Germany and the Netherlands pay our debts, I’m calling for the fiscal rules to be relaxed.

‘ Otherwise we’ll have to write off Europe and everyone will do their own thing. We can’t end up with “operation successful: patient dead”.’

Mr Conte was joined by Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez, who backed Italy, saying: ‘The EU is at risk if there is no solidarity.’

One EU diplomat involved with the talks told the Mail: ‘There is no doubt this is the biggest test for the EU since its foundation.’

Last night’s talks began more than two hours late and were expected to continue into today.

Berlin has pointed out it has already shown solidarity in other ways, including airlifting hundreds of Italian and French patients to Germany for treatment.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has previously said the challenge posed by coronavirus and how the bloc recovers from it is bigger than the migration crisis of 2015-16 and the eurozone debt crisis following the 2008 crash.

After the US, Italy and Spain are the two hardest-hit countries in the world for coronavirus deaths, with 18,610 and 15,238 fatalities respectively.

Italy’s death rate has slowed and Mr Conte said the country was drawing up plans for a phased return to normality.