You're listening to a podcast from the BBC World Service. This is Hard Talk with me, Zainab Bedawi.

Thanks for downloading this edition of the program and I hope you enjoy it.

Welcome to Hard Talk on the BBC World Service with me, Zainab Bedawi.

The economic fallout of COVID-19 has been tough and now with new waves of the virus,

restrictions on economic activity are

being reimposed in many countries. The European Union is the world's second wealthiest and largest

economy after the United States, and accounts for a large proportion of the global economy.

It has suffered badly from coronavirus.

How confident is it of making a recovery?

Well, my guest is the European Commissioner for the Economy,

Paolo Gentiloni, who until 2018 was Prime Minister of Italy.

Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni in Brussels, welcome to Hard Talk.

There are 3 million COVID-19 cases in the European Union,

and there have been around a quarter of a million deaths.

How worried are you that these new waves could cost more lives and livelihoods?

Well, indeed, there is a extremely high level of uncertainty.

I think we will never forget this 2020 for the human costs and for the economic consequences.

As far as the economic consequences are concerned, we are in a contradictory situation because

the recovery is underway since a couple of months after a terrible second quarter, but

the speed of the recovery is losing momentum

exactly because of the uncertainty

as if these new contagious.

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