“Overall, the European economy remains on a path of steady and moderate growth. Over the next two years, annual GDP growth in the euro area is expected to settle at 1.2%, the same as in 2019.”

European Economic Forecast, institutional Paper 121, February 2020.

“As countries implement necessary quarantines and social distancing practices to contain the pandemic, the world has been put in a Great Lockdown. The magnitude and speed of collapse in activity that has followed is unlike anything experienced in our lifetimes… This makes the Great Lockdown the worst recession since the Great Depression, and far worse than the Global Financial Crisis.”

Gita Gopinath, Director of the Research Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), 14th of April 2020.

Dear colleagues, members, partners and friends,

In Belgium, as in most European states, we are preparing ourselves to restart a ‘normal’ life as measures are gradually loosened after seven weeks of strict containment. And it is not only about social distancing and the respect of hygiene measures. It is also about facing our fears.

Read the full article here.