Many of the 27 heads declared on arrival for their first face-to-face summit for five months that a deal was crucial to rescue economies in free fall and shore up faith in the EU.

While the spread of the coronavirus has eased in Europe, it remains high elsewhere, so the commission is reluctant to lift all travel restrictions.

A dozen Estonian border guards removed all signs directing vehicles to stop at the border and huddled together at the roadside for cake and coffee.

The deal struck Thursday among the finance ministers did not, however, include more far-reaching cooperation in the form of shared borrowing guaranteed by all member countries.

The talks came as the death toll in Europe from COVID-19 soared well beyond 13,000 people.