OREANDA-NEWS. The EU economy may need € 1.5 trillion to cope with the spread of coronavirus. This opinion was expressed by European Commissioner for Economics Paolo Gentiloni in an interview published on Monday with the German media.

"It may require assistance in the amount of € 1.5 trillion to overcome this crisis", he said. Gentiloni recalled that the Eurogroup had previously submitted a plan of more than € 500 billion to finance the health care system and support small and medium-sized businesses. “Thus, at least € 1 trillion remains”, the European Commissioner said.

The European Commissioner believes that the EU needs "a common tool to finance the task of restoring" the economy. “Otherwise, we risk finding ourselves in a situation where the difference between the economies in the eurozone and the domestic market becomes too great”, he said.

Gentiloni called the IMF forecast "very realistic" according to which the total GDP of the eurozone may fall this year by 7.5%. At the same time, he warned that a worsening situation could lead to an increase in populists both in the south and in the north of Europe.