The European Commission has presented its proposal for a recovery fund to help EU countries stimulate their economies and overcome the impact of the coronavirus.

In this episode of The Agora, Nick Malkoutzis speaks to John Springford and Christian Odendahl from the Centre for European Reform think-tank about what kind of economic damage the pandemic will leave behind and how EU member states might overcome this setback.

Nick also has a discussion with Greek economist and academic George Pagoulatos about what the Commission's proposal means for Europe, and Greece in particular.

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The second episode in our new podcast series looks at how the Greek tourism industry is faring amid the turbulence caused by the coronavirus.

Host Nick Malkoutzis speaks to a specialist on the subject, Eleftheria Pantziou of Greek Travel Pages, to find out what the usually busy summer season is likely to entail for hotels and other businesses that rely on visitors coming to Greece.

The Agora’s producer Phoebe Fronista reports back after checking out a couple of places in Athens that would normally be teeming with visitors at this time of year.

Nick also has a chat with MacroPolis co-founder Yiannis Mouzakis and business reporter Omaira Gill about the importance of tourism to the Greek economy.

They discuss why simply focussing on what will be open and what the experience for tourists might be like is not the big story. Instead, the spotlight should be on the many businesses and households that rely on tourists for their livelihood and the difficulties they are likely to face in the coming months.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.