Debate: EU measures to mitigate social and economic impact of Covid-
Date: WEDNESDAY, 21 OCTOBER 2020
Speaker: Paolo Gentiloni
Language: EN

So this is my first point. The crisis is not behind us because this crisis is not like a war that finishes at a certain point and, with the end of the war, reconstruction begins. In this case, we will have a certain amount of time where emergency policies and recovery policy will go hand in hand. I think the awareness in the Parliament of the importance of a common reaction is very strong. I have to say that this common reaction came first of all from a sentiment of solidarity, which is a very good and European sentiment, but also from a common interest: the common interest to preserve the single market, because all we are seeing now shows that our concerns about the fact that this crisis could have uneven consequences among different sectors and Member States have been confirmed. So we are seeing that distances are there. Again, this common interest is not behind us. This is one of the reasons why we should continue to support the recovery with our fiscal policies in the next period. I think that several interventions mentioned the need to make the best possible use of the Recovery and Resilience Facility. What the Commission is committed to is finding the right balance because this is not a memorandum written in Brussels that we have to impose on Member States. These will be proposals coming from Member States and the Commission will work to make sure that these proposals are coherent with our common priorities and with countless specific recommendations, and not only linked to tactical or short-term goals.  But I repeat that the starting point will be national decisions, national governments and national parliaments. Several honourable Members rightly say that we need stronger coordination, but we all know — and you know better than me — that it’s always necessary to find the right balance between the demand for stronger coordination and the demand to preserve a national role. We are not a federal state. This could be a good thing or a bad thing, according to political and cultural points of view, but the fact is that we are not. So we have some sectors and some areas where the coordination is easier and others where it is more difficult. I think on this occasion we should go further in coordination, especially on health care safety measures, border coordination and the whole situation concerning travel, which is really very difficult among Member States. But of course this is an effort that the Commission can easily make, if Member States allow us. I appreciate the fact that I understand Parliament is strongly advocating for this stronger coordination.  Several honourable Members took the floor on social issues and our social model. I think that overall in this crisis our social model showed its difficulties, but also its strengths. I think we can be proud of our social model if we compare the social consequences of this crisis in other parts of the world where we don’t have social services or even where we have authoritarian models in government.  In my view, the European social model confirms its strength, but of course we have to reinforce it. We have to confirm the commitment to make the social pillar crucial in our semester. We have to be aware that the crisis is increasing social inequalities and that we have winners and losers. We have winners from this crisis, not only rich people in general, but also sectors of our global economy. For example, the digital global platforms are winners in this crisis. We will speak about this when we speak about digital taxation, own resources, etc. but, for sure, they are the winners in this crisis and other sectors that were mentioned here — culture, entertainment, travel, tourism, SMEs, and I am sure that I am forgetting something — are the losers in this crisis. This means that they will need support for a longer time than others. We can’t change and phase out the support in these sectors too soon.  Finally, I think that there is broad consensus on the fact that our goal, the goal of this unprecedented common response, is not only to revive our economies and go back to where we were at the end of 2019. We are all aware of the difficulties and some of them were mentioned here. Climate transition is not easy in many countries, but we are also aware of the tremendous responsibility that we have during this crisis to seize the opportunity to change our societies and our economies for the better.