Italy PM says EU summit unlikely to reach final deal on stimulus

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said he did not believe European Union leaders will reach a final solution over how to help the bloc's economies recover from the coronavirus crisis when they meet by video-conference on Thursday. Addressing the Italian Senate, Conte said the future of the EU depended on it finding sufficient common resources to tackle the crisis, and welcomed recent proposals from France and Spain.

"I don't believe the upcoming meeting of the 27 leaders will find a definitive solution but I will do everything ... to ensure it expresses a clear political path in the only reasonable direction," Conte said. He added that Italy would not veto the use of the euro zone bailout fund because other countries, including Spain, had said they were interested in using it, but he reiterated that he did not see it as a useful tool for Italy.