EU to keep pandemic economic safety net in place next year

The European Union's executive branch says EU countries will continue to benefit from an economic safety net through next year to help their economies recover from the coronavirus pandemic

BRUSSELS -- European Union countries will continue to benefit from an economic safety net through next year to help their economies recover from the damage inflicted by coronavirus restrictions, the EU’s executive branch said Wednesday. As COVID-19 spread throughout Europe and sent the EU spiraling toward its deepest recession, the European Commission activated a “general escape clause” in March 2020 that allowed member nations to deviate from normal budgetary rules. But with vaccination programs now taking hold and the number of new coronavirus cases dropping, the commission predicts the EU economy will expand by 4.2% in 2021 and by 4.4% in 2022. Given the positive trend, Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said that “we are prolonging the general escape clause in 2022, with a view to deactivating it in 2023.”