The great plunge of the European economy

In Brussels

This is a very bleak picture that the European Commission drew up on Wednesday when it presented the Union's economic forecasts. The very first since the coronavirus hit the block. As expected, the EU will face "an unprecedented economic shock since the Great Depression" in 1929, according to the Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, Paolo Gentiloni. GDP in the euro area is expected to fall by 7.7% this year and that of the EU by 7.4%. Or a drop of 9 points compared to the forecast last fall. "Economic activity almost fell by a third overnight",said Gentiloni. This is also confirmed by the PMI buyers' index, measuring activity in both industry and services, also published on Wednesday. It fell to 13.6 in April from 29.7 in March, its lowest level since the creation of these IHS Markit surveys in 1998.

All Member States, without exception, will have their

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