EU Finance ministers agreed on Thursday to a common emergency plan to limit the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the European economy, EDNews.net reports citing EuroNews.
EU member states have agreed to an emergency response plan of €500 billion.
"This proposal contains bold and ambitious proposals that would have been unthinkable just a few weeks ago", the Portuguese Finance minister and president of the Eurogroup Mario Centeno said in a video conference on Thursday.
"We can all remember the response to the financial crisis of the last decade, when Europe did too little too late. This time around is different."
The proposal, he added, "implements the strong response that Europe needs".
However, not all parties agreed on "corona bonds" or "Euro bonds", joint debt issued to EU member states.
"Some member states have expressed the view that this should be done by common debt instruments," Centeno said. "Other member states said alternative ways should be found."
"We are and will remain opposed to Eurobonds. We think this concept will not help Europa or the Netherlands on the long-term," Hoekstra said.
The Netherlands were blocking the talks since Tuesday, the AFP reported.
"The meeting ended with ministers' applause," the spokesperson for the Eurogroup said.