European Leaders Head for Showdown Over Response to Virus Crisis

European Union divisions over how to respond to the economic fallout of a deadly viral outbreak will come to the fore on Thursday, as the bloc’s leaders seek agreement over a joint communique outlining their strategy.

A draft of the document pledges protection for European companies from foreign takeovers, and gives the green light for the creation of credit lines to help keep borrowing costs low while governments go on a spending spree to cushion the impact of the pandemic. But efforts to agree on the exact wording ahead of a video conference on Thursday afternoon failed, with diplomats representing ...