Covid-19: European Parliament calls for a more unified EU response
Showing strong support for EU measures to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic, members of the European Parliament spoke up in a plenary debate on March 26 for strong EU solidarity to help citizens, the European Parliament said in a media statement.
Before a crucial urgency vote on the first batch of measures proposed by the European Commission to help members states tackle the pandemic in an efficient and coordinated way, MEPs called for EU countries to collaborate and to keep internal borders open to allow medical equipment and goods to be delivered.
Respecting strict sanitary precautions, lead MEPs from all political groups gathered in a special session in the Brussels chamber on Thursday, with others following the debate from home. Thanks to special procedures put in place, all MEPs were able to cast their votes remotely: 687 MEPs participated in the first vote to approve the urgency procedure.
Opening the debate, European Parliament President David Sassoli reiterated that the Parliament would not cease to function despite the pandemic.
“This is the only way
we can serve people, serve our communities, and serve healthcare
workers who are sacrificing themselves on the wards of our hospitals
across Europe,” Sassoli said. “The Parliament will continue to
fulfil its democratic role,” he said.
Emphasising the need
for common action and preserving the single market, European
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: “When we needed an
‘all for one’ spirit, many gave an ‘only for me’ response.
But things are now improving. The free movement of goods and services
is the only way to get supplies to where they are needed. Putting
barriers between us simply makes no sense! Europe’s citizens will
remember the decisions and actions we take today.”
Esteban
González Pons (EPP, ES) said: “We need the Europe that comes out
on its balcony every evening to applaud health care workers”. He
echoed the Von der Leyen and called for resources to be channelled to
local health care and for the free flow of medical equipment and
goods to be guaranteed. He called for political systems to be
maintained, investment into research, and solidarity among European
leaders whose “European spirit is failing.”
“Today’s
decisions are but a first step,” said Javier Moreno Sánchez (S&D,
ES), emphasising the need to also put forward measures such as an EU
Marshall plan, funded by a new common European debt instrument, and a
European unemployment fund, to help mitigate the economic and social
consequences of the Covid-19 crisis.
“If Europe is about
economic and monetary solidarity, health solidarity is even more
necessary,” said Dominique Riquet (Renew, FR). He supported steps
against empty flights, and said well-organised supply chains are the
means to stabilise Europe and fight the disease. “I want this
aphorism to apply to Europe and its citizens: whatever does not kill
us will make us stronger,” he concluded.
Nicolas Bay (ID,
FR) criticised the EU response: “We have a big challenge and you
are absent. The European Commission has put Europeans at risk. The EU
is not even capable of coordinating the measures taken by the member
states. The Covid-19 crisis is a nail, perhaps the last one, in the
coffin of an impotent bureaucracy”, he said.
Thanks and
gratitude are not enough, said Ska Keller (Greens/EFA, DE) who called
for help to be extended to the Western Balkans, too. The Greens
called for financial help to people who have lost their income and,
through “coronabonds”, to ensure the stability of EU countries.
These extraordinary times “are not a pretext to undermine checks
and balances”: governments must remain under the control of
national parliaments, she said.
Derk Jan Eppink (ECR, NL)
proposed a different pragmatic response to the crisis. “The new
euro bonds or “coronabonds” would not be an effective way to
revitalise the European economy. People urgently need cash. National
central banks should instead provide credits at zero interest rates
to our citizens and companies.”
“A protective Europe would
look after its essential workers. Rather than applauding the carers,
cashiers, the people on whom our lives depend, let us help them,”
said Manon Aubry (GUE/NGL, FR), pleading for the production of health
equipment to be shared and for a clear and coordinated strategy to
lift the lockdown.
(Photo: European Parliament)