Paolo Gentiloni, the Commission's finance chief said an interview with Italy's RAI television on Sunday that a €1.5 trillion EU recovery fund should be available by mid-September, to help member-states tackle the economic impact of the Coronavirus crisis.

"We cannot wait two years, like it happened between the end of the World War II and the Marshall Plan,” Gentiloni said, according to Bloomberg.

The fund should include loans, as well as a portion of non-repayable money, he added.

In an...