Speaking to Euronews, Mr Gentiloni sought to reassure EU citizens by claiming that Brussels is already looking to approve a coronavirus “recovery plan”. The European Commissioner claimed the steps already taken by the European Central Bank (EBC) had already been successful in keeping the eurozone economic stability under control. 

He said: “Trust the ECB, very simple. Because I think the ECB, and globally central banks, reacted very strongly.

“And the pandemic purchase, an extraordinary programme from the ECB was very important to stabilise markets and to avoid fragmentation.

“Especially in the euro area.

“So for the moment, I think that this intervention is perfectly capable to keep the situation under control.”

It comes as the head of the European Commission was forced to apologise to Italy on Thursday for a lack of solidarity from Europe in tackling its coronavirus crisis but promised greater help in dealing with the economic fallout.

READ MORE: EU branded ‘selfish’ after member states row over coronavirus response

“They did not realise that we can only defeat this pandemic together, as a Union. This was harmful and could have been avoided,” she wrote, adding: “Today Europe is rallying to Italy’s side.”

The main bone of contention is a request by Italy and eight other countries to issue “recovery bonds” on behalf of all eurozone countries to help fund efforts to rebuild national economies that are expected to dive deep into recession.

Conservative leaders in wealthy states such as Germany, the Netherlands and Austria have so far recoiled at the idea of issuing bonds with highly indebted nations, such as Italy.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte urged a rethink.

“I believe that everyone will eventually realise even in those countries that a shared, orderly, strong and rapid European response is the only solution,” he told Spain’s La Sexta television. “A slow response would be a useless response.”

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The opposition League, Italy’s most popular party, has struggled to gain much attention during the coronavirus crisis, and has leapt on the EU debate to gain greater traction.

“Commission president von der Leyen has apologised today to Italy and Italians. She could have thought of this sooner. From Europe, all we are getting are words and smoke: zero substance,” League leader Matteo Salvini wrote on Twitter.

The party’s economic adviser, Claudio Borghi, posted on Twitter a fascist-era poster from World War Two of a smiling Nazi soldier with the slogan “Germany really is your friend”.

“Time passes but the tactics are always the same,” Borghi wrote.

Von der Leyen told La Repubblica that the European Union would allocate up to 100 billion euros ($109.62 billion) to the hardest-hit countries, starting with Italy, to help cover the cost of lost wages and to preserve jobs.

She said the commission also wanted to make sure that “every euro still available in the EU’s annual budget” is spent on tackling the coronavirus crisis.

However, she did not mention the euro bonds sought by Rome.