Clashes predicted over trillion-euro Covid-19 aid as EU meets online

Virtual summit debates rescue package to protect single market from depression

European Union leaders are meeting to debate a variety of trillion-euro proposals to resuscitate the single market, as they stand on the precipice of an economic slump unparalleled since the 1930's Great Depression.

Clashes over the size and scope of a coronavirus recovery fund were anticipated at the video-conference summit, which is taking place amid a global pandemic that so far has claimed more than 108,000 lives in the European Economic Area and UK.