What does 2021 hold for jobs and businesses in Europe?

For more insight into the EU’s economic future, euronews’ Naomi Lloyd spoke to Christian Odendahl, Chief Economist of think-tank the Centre for European Reform.

According to Odendahl, we really need this fund. Southern Europe’s economies depend a lot on tourism and he believes the European recovery fund can bridge the gaps between the north and the south’s finances:

“The amounts that are going from the north of Europe to the south are quite sizeable”, says Odendahl, adding “for a country like Greece, for example, it is bound to receive roughly 2 percent of GDP over the next couple of years. That’s a very sizeable transfer.”

He told euronews that there are a tough couple of months ahead because we’re currently between the prospect of a vaccine and its distribution. He expects there will be a “post-corona catch up boom, but until then we will still struggle with the virus and the lockdown measures that have been put in place”.

...Christian Odendahl, the chief Economist of think-tank the Centre for European Reform confirms that this is a worrying prospect for Finland. He says many businesses will struggle even once the economy picks up again.

“This pandemic has forced people to try new things, particularly in the digital and remote working spheres, so I think there are some businesses that will struggle, even if the economy fully recovers because people have changed their habits, they’ve changed their behaviour, in some parts for good.”