Debate: European coordinated response to the COVID- outbreak
Date: THURSDAY, 26 MARCH 2020
Speaker: Nikolina Brnjac
Language: EN

President, Honourable Members, first, I wish to thank the European Parliament for this extraordinary session today so that important measures can be adopted. I regret that I cannot be with you in person on such an important occasion, and I would like to thank President Sassoli for granting me this opportunity to address you in writing from Zagreb during this extraordinary plenary. Allow me to begin with a few words about the terrifying earthquake of 5.5 magnitude on the Richter scale, which hit my capital Zagreb and its surroundings this Sunday. It was the strongest earthquake in this area in the last 140 years. Our homes, hospitals and churches, even the Cathedral, sustained extensive material damages. Newborn babies and their mothers with masks were carried into the freezing hospital yards, people were physically injured and traumatized with fear and uncertainty, and most tragically, one young life was lost.  Since then, Zagreb and its surroundings have been hit by more than 80 smaller earthquakes and aftershocks; we had strong winds and snow showers. Zagreb could not stay at home even in the midst of the COVID-19 epidemic. I would like to use this opportunity to praise our citizens who exhibited incredible feats of courage, solidarity and togetherness, our public services, our military and police, our firemen and engineers and our media who all worked tirelessly and patiently to assist and inform people in these terrible circumstances. I also wish to thank everybody for their messages of support, solidarity and friendship, as Zagreb witnessed these two simultaneous emergencies. Our fight against COVID-19 pandemic continues, and strict measures introduced to contain its spread and slow down the epidemiological curve remain our priority in Zagreb and the whole of Croatia.  Moreover, we remain aware of our responsibilities as the Presidency of the Council of the European Union in these difficult moments and we shall keep performing them to the best of our abilities.  Allow me therefore another comment outside the designated subject : I am proud that in these exceptional circumstances, we have managed to reach a true Enlargement policy milestone, by deciding to open accession negotiations with the Republic of Albania and the Republic of North Macedonia. Coming back to our main subject: The coronavirus is a global crisis. But right now, that crisis is hitting hardest in Europe and the situation has been worsening by the hour. For the moment, we are the continent that has the biggest number of people that are infected and the highest number of fatalities. Before I continue, I would like to pay tribute to the victims, in Europe and elsewhere, and express my deepest sympathy with their relatives and loved ones. I also wish to acknowledge and praise the outstanding efforts and hard work by the healthcare services throughout Europe and the world in these difficult times. They are on the front line, tirelessly fighting the spread of the virus.  I also wish to express our solidarity with all those who are ill, in intensive care or in quarantine. And we should not forget those who are doing their utmost to ensure we continue to have the basic goods and services that we all need in our everyday life. We must help and support each other throughout this pandemic and I believe we will come out of it stronger. The coronavirus is not only an unprecedented health crisis, but it is also a serious threat to the EU economy and society, which build on free movement. In response, the members of the European Council have identified five key priorities for the EU and its Member States.  These are: limiting the spread of the virus, measures to secure access to medical equipment, promoting research, tackling socio-economic consequences and helping EU citizens stranded abroad to return home.  As regards public health, our focus has been and will continue to be on minimizing human suffering, people falling ill and dying. We need to reduce the number of active cases as much as possible so that our health care systems have a sufficient number of places for treatment, including intensive care. This is why the EU and its Member States took very drastic measures to achieve social distancing. These have been difficult decisions aimed at reducing the infection rate, but although necessary and justified, they have immense impact on our citizens, their private, professional and social life.  Since those measures were introduced some 10 days ago, we hope soon to see the number of daily new cases diminish. The free movement of goods is in normal times the cornerstone of our prosperity and growth. In this time of crisis, swift and undisrupted access to essential goods must also be guaranteed. To this aim the internal market must function properly. It is time now to show solidarity with those who are at this point in time the most affected and in need of life-saving equipment. We therefore welcome the concrete measures that the European Commission has taken in cooperation with Member States to ensure the supply of medicines and medical equipment. We support the Commission’s efforts to improve the situation as regards access to Personal Protective Equipment, through joint public procurement initiatives, engagement with the industry and purchases via the Civil protection framework.  In order to be able to tackle cross-cutting issues, the Croatian Presidency is also making full use of the Integrated Political Crisis Response (IPCR), which provides for efficient information exchange between Member States, including at ministerial level whenever needed.  It is impossible to overstate the significant impacts that this health crisis will have throughout the globe on many sectors of our economy. Given the interconnectedness of our economies, close coordination of fiscal and monetary policies will be key to tackling this crisis. We stand ready to act if the situation worsens, always keeping in mind the need to ensure proportionality and flexibility in our response.  Over the years, we have built robust yet flexible rules in domains such as fiscal policy, financial regulation and state aid. Staying within the boundaries of such frameworks, while exploiting their flexibility to the full extent, will allow us to provide the adequate immediate relief, while at the same time ensuring credibility and sustainability in the long term. In concrete terms, with the support of Member States, the Commission will use the general escape clause of the Stability and Growth Pact, allowing Member States to undertake measures to deal adequately with the crisis, while departing from the budgetary requirements that would normally apply under the European fiscal framework. Then, in order to minimise the damage on the productive fabric of our societies, also linked to the necessary containment measures taken in these weeks, massive liquidity support for firms have been announced by many Member States, amounting to exposures of several percentage points of GDP. In parallel, our financial regulators have already expressed their willingness to provide the maximum flexibility to banks and credit institutions to channel and complement public support, while the Commission has announced a temporary relaxation of state aid rules to ensure and expedite approval of public support schemes for enterprises facing difficulties, especially in sectors and regions most directly affected by the crisis. Finally, all Member States have announced important social measures to support the employment status and income of affected workers, in the form of reinforced automatic stabilisers and ad hoc measures to ensure the widest coverage of the measures taken. Furthermore, beyond creating the framework of regulatory conditions to allow Member States to implement these targeted support policies, EU institutions have also set up important Europe-wide initiatives. I would mention the Commission's Corona Response Investment Initiative; the EIB's announcements on working capital lending for European firms and catalysing additional investments in SMEs and midcaps; and the ECB Governing Council's announcement of a €750bn Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP). Honorable members, as you know, the formal Council meetings had to be postponed due to the rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Croatian Presidency, in an effort to ensure the necessary continuation of the Council's work, initiated changes to the Council's Rules of Procedure which enable the use of a written decision-making procedure within the Council, as well as regulating the issue of holding and preparing video conferences, which entered into effect on March 23rd.  A number of informal ministerial meetings were held via video conferences in the last weeks.  On March 18th, the EU transport ministers debated the implications of COVID-19 on transport and agreed cooperation to ensure a smooth flow of goods (food, medicines, medical equipment) with an emphasis on safeguarding freedom of movement across borders; as well as health and safety measures for transportation workers. On 19th March, an exchange of views of EU social and employment ministers took place on the impact of COVID-19 on social policy and employment across 3 topics: i.) possible reallocation of EU funds to new "corona" initiatives; ii.) measures to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on SMEs and the self-employed; iii.) alternative childcare solutions (for working parents), and other vulnerable groups. On 20th March, an informal high-level videoconference of Ministers responsible for Internal Market and EU Competitiveness was held on the impact of COVID-19 on the EU economy, with an exchange of views on: i.) ways to ensure a sufficient level of production capacity for medical equipment to meet the needs of all MS ; ii.) measures taken regarding the economic consequences of the pandemic; iii.) ways of enabling free movement of the functionality. On 23 March a teleconference of EU Ministers of Economy and Finance was held, with a focus on: i.) the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis; ii.) the flexibility of the Stability and Growth Pact; iii.) the impact of COVID-19 on the European Semester 2020. They took stock of the situation and proposed additional targeted measures as necessary.  A teleconference of foreign ministers was held on March 23, discussing: i. repatriation of EU citizens; ii.) international cooperation; iii.) public diplomacy and misinformation issues; and iv.)geopolitical and economic implications of repatriation, especially for EU citizens who are not residents of third countries (students, tourists, etc.). The ministers also discussed the medical equipment issues and inaction among MS, which creates fertile ground for the intervention of third countries. COVID crisis was also discussed at video conferences of Ministers for European Affairs on March 24th and Ministers of Agriculture on March 25th, and will be discussed at the upcoming meeting of Ministers responsible for Regional and Cohesion Policy on March 27th. The key message expressed by the Council, is that above all we need to strengthen the solidarity between Member States, cooperation and exchange of information. Moreover, the Council mandates for the proposals on Corona Investment Initiative Regulation and for a proposal to amend the European Solidarity Fund Regulation, as well as for the proposal amending the Slot Regulation, were urgently discussed and adopted on March 18th and 20th, respectively. There is thus an impressive set of national and Europe-wide initiatives with a significant amount of resources mobilised, in the context of an adjusted regulatory framework to ensure a smooth deployment of the instruments.  To conclude, we are constantly monitoring the situation, to be able to react as swiftly as needed. We are now in the epicentre of the crisis, and it is only through solidarity, unity, and close cooperation among all of us that we can contribute to diminish the impacts of this global outbreak in the most efficient way. Today, the members of the European Council will follow-up, by video-conference, on the EU's response to the crisis. They will focus on the main strands of action, notably: limiting the spread of the virus; the provision of medical equipment; promoting research, and tackling the socio-economic consequences of the outbreak. In the face of this unprecedented challenge, we are determined to continue the joint work of the European institutions and the Member States in a coordinated, swift, responsible and united manner to find effective solutions to address many serious problems that now arise.  I would like to thank the European Parliament for taking the steps that will allow our two institutions to act quickly on the Commission proposals in the light of these exceptional circumstances, and for its good cooperation on these proposals, on which you will vote later today.  I wish you a fruitful debate and I extend to you my heartfelt desire that you and your loved ones stay safe. I look forward to addressing you at the plenary as soon as the situation permits.