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Airline group Air France-KLM is in talks with banks to receive up to €6bn in loans, guaranteed by the French and Dutch governments, due to the coronavirus crisis, Reuters reported. The two states each own 14 percent of Air France-KLM. Air France could get around €4bn in French-guaranteed loans while KLM could receive around €2bn backed by The Hague. The group appointed BNP and Societe Generale to advise on refinancing.

It will take time for the EU to get a large numbers of ventilators quickly to treat Covid-19 patients, a commission spokesperson said Friday. The executive launched a joint procurement in March, suppliers had been selected, and countries can begin negotiating deliveries. "Taking into account the difficult situation of the markets and the complexity of products like ventilators, their production and delivery is expected to take time," the spokesperson said.

Pharmaceutical firms have stepped up production of medical supplies to prevent pandemic-linked shortages, the EU's single market commissioner, Thierry Breton, has said. "They are doubling production and I think we're going to be able to address the situation," he told French radio Thursday. The Dutch, the same day, offered to put €1bn into a joint virus fund to purchase medicines as an alternative to other ideas of issuing eurozone "corona-bonds".

Insurance firms should refrain from paying dividends to shareholders and big bonuses to executives to make sure they had enough capital to pay out pandemic-linked claims, the EU agency that governs the sector, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority in Frankfurt, has said. Insurers should "ensure a robust level of own funds to be able to protect policyholders and absorb potential losses," the EU agency said on Thursday.

The European Parliament's (EP) 'Helmut Kohl' building could be turned into a makeshift hospital and its fleet of cars and drivers could ferry supplies if need be, the parliament's spokesman, Jaume Duch, has told the Belga news agency. "The building could be used as a hospital or temporary residence for people who needed care. Drivers could help carry food or medicines," he said, following talks with Belgian authorities.

The new EU naval mission to prevent arms-smuggling to Libya has clearly ignored Libya's reality and all expert advice.

"It is necessary for protecting people living in these settlements and also all the others who do not live there," prime minister Igor Matovic said.

Some lobbyists are "burning the phones" to EU officials as industry reacts to the pandemic - creating concern on public scrutiny.

Some 20 people at a refugee camp near Athens have tested positive for Covid-19. Although a worrying development, the EU commission says Greece will be able to handle it.

Member parties from the largest European political family have called for the expulsion of their Hungarian partner - again. This time, two prime ministers joined, but so far the heavyweights have again stayed away.

The EU commission has announced a "new solidarity instrument", mobilising €100bn in support to workers with jobs affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Other funds will be redirected to respond to the negative economic impact.

The EU Parliament president and political group leaders agreed on Thursday to hold an extraordinary plenary on 16 and 17 April in Brussels, to continue with parliamentary work on the special measures to fight the pandemic. MEPs will vote remotely on the EU coordinated action to combat the coronavirus and "any legislative or budgetary proposals prepared" by the EU commission.

The Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary broke the EU law over refusing to relocate asylum seekers after a decision in 2015 by member states.

Margaritis Schinas, the European Commission vice-president in charge of "promoting our European way of life", told MEPs on Thursday that the month-long travel restriction for almost anyone hoping to enter the European Union will be extended. "You are all familiar with the measures we took to restrict travel into the European Union for a month. I think the situation compels us to renew these restrictions," he said.

Spain's social security data revealed on Thursday that nearly 900,000 workers have lost their jobs since the lockdown measures on March 12, reports El País. Labour market data shows that more than half were temporary workers. The total number of people unemployed in the country officially rose to 3.5 million in March - the highest level since April 2017, with March the worst single month in history for unemployment.

A UN climate summit (COP26) scheduled to take place in Glasgow in November was postponed to 2021 due to the coronavirus outbreak, the British government announced on Wednesday. "In light of the ongoing, worldwide effects of Covid-19, holding an ambitious, inclusive COP26 in November 2020 is no longer possible," the government said in a statement. For COP26, governments were expected to present a more ambitious emission reduction plans for 2030.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director of the WHO, has said he was "deeply concerned about the rapid escalation and global spread of infection." "Over the past five weeks, we have witnessed a near exponential growth in the number of new cases," he said Wednesday. "The number of deaths has more than doubled in the past week. In the next few days, we will reach one million confirmed cases and 50,000 deaths."

EU countries must match European Central Bank (ECB) bond-buying with economic stimulus packages to avoid a new debt crisis, Greek central bank chief Yannis Stournaras. has said. "Moral hazard considerations should not be the main determinant of our actions today," he told the Bloomberg news agency. "Common issuance of debt is common action against the common enemy," he added, amid Dutch and German opposition to joint bonds.

The Chinese city of Shenzhen has banned eating dogs and cats as part of a wider clampdown on the wildlife trade since the emergence of the new coronavirus, Reuters reports. Scientists suspect the coronavirus passed to humans from animals. Some of the earliest infections were found in people who had exposure to a wildlife market in the city of Wuhan, where bats, snakes, civets, and other animals were sold.

France has said joint borrowing could be limited to a short time to soothe German objections to the project. "Having a fund for, let's say, five or 10 years ... and with the possibility of having common debt but only within that fund ... might be more acceptable for other countries," its finance minister Bruno le Maire told the FT. Europe was facing "a 'postwar' economic situation," he added.