Coronavirus: EU apologizes to Italy for initial response

Members of the European Parliament are meeting on Thursday to discuss greater protection for EU citizens in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. In her opening remarks, European Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen repeated an apology to Italy on behalf of Europe for its failure to do more to help at the start of the pandemic. “It is true that no one was really ready for this. It is also true that too many were not there on time when Italy needed a helping hand at the very beginning,” von der Leyen said. “And it is right, that Europe apologizes wholeheartedly for this.” She said that, after a bad start, the EU has shown it is capable of solidarity.

The 27-nation bloc is set reshape its next budget to concentrate on tackling the coronavirus and channel a larger portion of the spending into the first few years. The German politician told EU lawmakers that the new 7-year budget, which comes into play from January, would be “the mother-ship of our recovery.” “We will use the power of the whole European budget to leverage the huge amount of investment we need to rebuild the single market after corona. We will front-load it, so we can power that investment in those crucial first years of recovery.” Talks on the budget have been blocked for almost a year. Some member states are unwilling to pay more to plug the roughly €75-billion ($81 billion) hole left by Britain’s exit from the EU.

At the extraordinary European Parliament session, lawmakers will vote on supporting member states’ health systems and a uniform strategy for the phasing out of emergency measures. A resolution drafted ahead of the meeting criticized the behavior of EU members Hungary and Poland during the coronavirus crisis. The parliament’s normal calendar of meetings is currently suspended amid the virus-related restrictions.

Members are set to cast their votes by email, with a result to be announced on Friday. Nations ended weeks of wrangling last Thursday, agreeing on a €500-billion ($545-billion) emergency plan to help out struggling members.

Source: DW