FRANKFURT – Major business groups in Germany, France and Italy are urging European governments to ramp up their joint fiscal stimulus efforts against the economic downturn cased by the virus outbreak, saying that the EU response “must be of an unprecedented scale.” The call was made in a four-page appeal published Tuesday by Germany's BDI, Italy's Confindustria, and France's Medef business confederations.
The business groups said that European stimulus efforts must go beyond the first package of emergency help at the European level, involving lending and guarantees from the European Investment Bank, the European Commission and the European Stability Mechanism bailout fund. “We call on European leaders to rapidly approve a bold proposal”