Finance leaders of the Eurozone are expected to settle their differing viewpoints on a 500 billion euros worth of economic assistance to fund the recovery from ongoing global health scare, a debate that has created animosity as the union grapples to contain the epidemic.
If they come to an agreement, joint responses from the EU and national governments could enhance the world's largest fiscal support system, exceeding that of the US, a Reuters projection showed.
Differing stance among the finance ministers of the European Union have threatened to disrupt, or at least slow down, the effort by the organization to lay forward an ambitious plan to reduce the economic effects of the ongoing global crisis.
Throughout Tuesday's emergency teleconference, finance leaders of the union grappled to harmonize their conflicting expectations, forcing negotiations to continue through the night, with a final media briefing rescheduled until Wednesday.
A precautionary credit line from the European Stability Mechanism is included on the half trillion euro "safety net" in case individual nations encounter roadblocks in getting the money to tackle the ill effects brought about by the virus.
A guarantee fund for corporate liquidity and EU support from the European Investment Bank is also under wraps, covering the compensation of personnel who would otherwise be rendered jobless by the struggling companies.
The health crisis risks causing the worst economic turmoil since the second world war. Eurozone states, like many governments around the globe, have promised billions of euros to support companies and jobs through financial handouts, wage insurance programs and loan guarantees.
Spending programs have reached 2.3 percent of the currency's union's gross domestic product, with additional 13 percent of the general production being allocated to credit guarantees, Reuters said.
France and Europe's heavily battered southern regions have been calling for a strong commitment to a restructuring program financed by jointly issued bonds, a plan that is anathema to countries such as the Netherlands and Germany with rigid red lines on debt mutualization.
The finance leaders had been commissioned by EU officials to build by the end of this week a series of steps to tackle the economic effect of the pandemic. But even as the coronavirus kept roiling their economies and health infrastructure, policymakers failed to push beyond conventional lines of division.
Last week, France proposed developing a fund of as-yet undetermined amount for five to ten years to help cushion and normalize Europe's economy from the recession the outbreak will create.
The fund will execute a one-off loan program on behalf of all European states, using raised funds to set in motion affordable credit lines to help union economies bounce back after the latest coronavirus shock and measures to prevent its spread.
