The European Union’s executive arm said this year’s recession may be much worse than previously anticipated, proposing a suspension of the bloc’s draconian fiscal rules to cushion the fallout from a deadly viral outbreak that has brought its economy to a halt.
“Assuming an extension of the health crisis up to the beginning of June or beyond, the fall in economic activity in 2020 could be comparable to the contraction of 2009, the worst year of the Economic and Financial Crisis,” the European Commission said in a statement on Friday.
