The
\ncoronavirus pandemic has paralyzed the world economy, and threw the world in a
\nrecession that will be much more serious than the global financial crisis of a
\ndecade ago. This is the belief of the general manager of the IMF, Kristalina
\nGeorgieva. She made an open appeal to advanced economies to widen their efforts
\nof helping the emerging and developing economies in order to overcome the
\neconomic and health impact of the pandemic. Am much as 90 billion dollars in
\ninvestments have been removed from emerging markets, much more than during the
\n2008 financial crisis, Georgieva warned. Faced with a common enemy, government
\nand each financial institution are seeking solutions. If across the ocean
\nWashington has put together a historic plan to rescue the American economy,
\nhard hit by the pandemic, a plan of two trillion dollars, Europe is also taking
\nexceptional measures. President of the EC Ursula von der Leyen said that only a
\nstrong response would allow Europe to face down this coronavirus, and that they
\nhave to use every means at their disposal. She added that every Euro in the EU
\nbudget would be redirected towards overcoming the crisis, and each regulation
\nwould be relaxed in order to allow financing to circulate quickly and
\neffectively. The Union made important decisions that mobilize considerable
\namounts of money, which each of the member states has to manage optimally.
\nAfter lengthy discussions, EU finance ministers agreed on an emergency package
\nfor the member states most affected by the coronavirus – over 500 billion
\ndollars to help workers, businesses, and governments. As a member of the Union since 2007, Romania
\nis a part and a beneficiary of this concentrated European effort. Here is Euro
\nMP Siegfried Muresan, talking about it on Radio Romania: <\/p>\n
The
\nEC has proposed important measures that will help us a lot in the fight against
\nthe coronavirus. First of all, it proposed allocating right away three billion
\nEuros in supplementary funds out of the 2020 EU discretionary budget. That was
\nan EU reserve for this year, which have been accessed in the fight against the
\ncoronavirus. Of this fund, 300 million Euros are allocated right away for the
\nacquisition, at the European level, in a centralized manner, of medical
\nequipment relevant to the fight against the virus and for testing. Secondly,
\nthe EUis proposing the immediate
\nallocation of 2.7 billion Euros from European funds for the following: the building
\nand installation of temporary medical facilities, for instance, the hospital
\nbuilt by the Romanian Army in Bucharest can be claimed out of European funds;
\nthe building, equipping, and maintenance some quarantine centers, which is also
\nvery important in Romania, for people coming into the country from red zones;
\nthe bolstering of production of medical equipment, because we saw how in
\nRomania a factory that so far has been making something else now produces masks
\nrelevant to the fight against coronavirus. All this reorientation of technology
\ncan be paid for with EU funds. This is the first set ofimportant measures taken by the EU. The
\nsecond important set of measures is the increase in flexibility in using
\nEuropean funds, which means that we are allowed transfer between the various
\ncategories of European funds already allocated to Romania. And one other very
\nimportant thing, the EU says that a country that has not managed to absorb EU
\nfunding on time would not lose it, because this is force majeure, and we cannot
\nlose unabsorbed funds.<\/p>\n
The
\nEC has also proposed a 100 million Euro fund for loans to help countries to
\ncome out of the economic country generated by the coronavirus. The point of
\nthis solidarity instrument would be to help working people maintain their
\nincome, as well as support enterprises, so that they can keep afloat. All these
\nmeasures are drawn based on the present EU budget, and are meant to maximize
\nthe use of every available Euro, proving once again why the EU has to have a
\nlong term and flexible budget. The second flexibility measure has to do with
\nthe budget deficit, allowing ailing economic areas to go above the so far
\npermitted ceiling of 3%. The whole of Europe is now talking about solidarity.
\nHere once again is EuroMP Siegfried Muresan: <\/p>\n
Solidarity
\nis necessary, without a doubt, in this situation, and it is essential to reach
\nit at the beginning of this process with concrete measures. If the EU proposes
\nconcrete solution in coming to our help, European countries and peoples feel
\nthat they are getting help, then they will be accepted. If countries see that
\nno solutions are coming from the European level, that there is no solidarity
\nbetween European countries, then they will be doing everything on their own, at
\nthe national level, they will compete with one another in acquiring protective
\nequipment, which would be in no one’s interest, preventing solidarity in the
\nlong run.<\/p>\n
The
\nEuro MP added that the EU has proposed good measures, that he believes would
\nachieve solidarity, and that member countries are already helping each other,
\nbecause of how serious the situation was everywhere, and that everyone is
\nhelping due to solutions that the EU provides for all people. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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