Earlier today the European economics commissioner Pierre Moscovici spoke about the current state of affairs in Italy, one of the two countries most affected by the current slowdown experienced around the world. Recent reports from Italy indicate that the country is on the verge of recession, performing much worse than the other countries in the eurozone. Somewhat surprisingly, Germany is the other one having trouble based on fundamental reports. However, Moscovici explained that the developments in Germany are likely just induced by the recent drop in global demand and international trade problems, so there is a high likelihood the problem will be resolved as long as the global sentiment improves. Italy, on the other hand, never fully recovered from the 2008 crisis and has been headed for trouble even before the global economic downturn began.
In other news, the EU is also currently undergoing some serious negative effects due to Brexit. They were counting on Theresa May’s deal succeeding in order to bring some order amid all the Brexit chaos, but that failed, so now EU officials are working on a new plan. Donald Tusk announced that he is ready to offer the United Kingdom a “flextension” - an extension of up to one year, which includes the option to initiate Brexit as soon as an agreement with the EU is ratified by the UK Parliament. This would mean the UK could have a full year to negotiate a brand-new deal, or if they manage to agree on something sooner, leave even before that time is up. Tusk’s is likely the plan to be presented to the UK government at the emergency Brexit summit on April 10. In the meantime, Theresa May is negotiating with Jeremy Corbyn a revision to her proposal that might find more support in Parliament. The Prime Minister is adamant in her desire to avoid a prolonged Brexit and skip European Parliamentary elections in May.
