BRUSSELS (BLOOMBERG) - It's crunch time for the European Union (EU) as it strives to stem a virus-led downturn that could eclipse the severity of the Great Recession more than a decade ago.

The EU's finance ministers on Tuesday (April 7) will seek to endorse a list of measures worth more than half a trillion euros to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus on the region's economies. If enough headway is made, the bloc's leaders could debate and sign-off on the measures later in the week.