Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called on the European Union to act decisively together in the fight against coronavirus, saying that the future of the EU is at stake.
“We are facing the worst crisis of our generation. At stake is the future of the European project, we choose between a coordinated and united EU and individualism”, – Sanchez wrote on Twitter. He demanded a “common response to this emergency”.
“The EU should adopt a plan that will strengthen the mechanisms of the European welfare state, will develop mechanisms of sustainability through a policy of cohesion” in both agriculture and industry, urged the Spanish prime minister.
On Thursday evening, the leaders of the 27 EU countries discussed by videoconference the development of economic measures to overcome the consequences of the Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. In this context, they asked the Eurogroup, the council of finance ministers of the euro zone, which also meets in an extended format with the participation of ministers from all EU countries, to submit proposals to combat the socio-economic impact of the pandemic in the next two weeks.
The summit also noted the need to create a strategy to overcome this situation.
Earlier, the leaders of nine European countries – France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Portugal, Greece, Ireland, Slovenia and Luxembourg – sent a letter to the head of the European Council, Charles Michel, calling for the creation of a common debt instrument to ease the burden on the budgets of individual states in the crisis.
During yesterday’s meeting, Spain, Italy and a number of other countries demanded that the Eurogroup submit concrete proposals for financing in the medium and long term. The Eurogroup is to submit a plan in two weeks. “If we do not give a single answer now, strong and effective, this economic crisis will not only have serious consequences, but they will last longer and we will jeopardize the entire European project,” the Spanish government quoted Sanchez at the conference. “You can not make the same mistakes as during the crisis of 2008,” – called the head of the Spanish Cabinet.
is in second place in Europe after Italy. As of 27 March, more than 64,000 cases of infection have been recorded, the number of victims since the beginning of the epidemic has reached 4,858, half of them in Madrid.
On 14 March, the Spanish authorities introduced a 15-day high alert regime, limiting the movement of people. On 26 March, Parliament extended it until 11 April inclusive.
The Spanish Government has allocated a record €200 billion to minimize the socio-economic impact of the situation.