ROME, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) recovery fund should kick off as soon as in January to provide the necessary relief to the European economies hit by the COVID-19 crisis, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte urged on Tuesday.
"In the European Council a few days ago, we restated our expectation that the Next Generation EU program, as well as the Multiannual Financial Framework, could start by Jan. 1, 2021," Conte told a press conference after meeting his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez in Rome.