Europe’s €750bn rescue package sets a welcome precedent

WHEN THE leaders of the European Union agreed this week on a €750bn ($869bn) package to help members’ economies recover from covid-19, they answered a looming question: whether Europe was too divided to handle the pandemic. As in earlier crises, the virus’s economic ravages split the EU’s members. Rich countries with low government debt and fewer infections (such as Germany and the Netherlands) can cope on their own. Some of the heavily indebted and infected countries (such as Italy and Spain) cannot. Without fiscal aid, they face recessions deep enough to drag down the whole of the EU.