EU finance ministers struggled Tuesday to bridge differences on how to relaunch their economies after the coronavirus, with Germany refusing Italy's call for unprecedented solidarity with hard hit countries.
The European economy has been battered by the epidemic, with countries imposing strict lock downs that have closed businesses and put normal life on hold.
For weeks the EU's 27 member states have bickered about ways to respond to the havoc caused, with Italy and Spain pleading for a solidarity fund that would be paid for by European partners jointly borrowing money on the markets. Sometimes called coronabonds, this proposal is firmly rejected by Germany, the Netherlands and other rich countries who see it as an attempt by the allegedly profligate south to unfairly gain cheap interest on their debt thanks to the north's fiscal discipline.
As a compromise, Berlin and its allies believe a European rescue should use the eurozone's 410-billion-euro ($443-billion) bailout fund, as well as wait to see the effects of monetary stimulus already unleashed by the European Central Bank.
Eurogroup chief Mario Centeno is tasked with finding a compromise in a fight that has taken an emotional turn, with more than 50,000 so far killed by the virus in Europe.
"We all know this is not time for business as usual policies. We must show our citizens that Europe protects them," Centeno, who is also Portugal's finance minister, said ahead of the talks.
Ministers must "make a clear commitment for a coordinated and sizable recovery plan," he said.
On Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel reiterated her government's position in favour of activating the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) bailout fund to help countries that needed it.
But she pointedly did not mention shared borrowing such as coronabonds or eurobonds, angering Rome.
"Eurobonds represent a serious response tailored to the crisis we are living through," Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte argued on Monday.
Influential France backs Italy and Spain and insists the economic destruction caused by COVID-19 demanded a new way of thinking in Europe and wanted member countries to help each other in unprecedented ways.