Urgent need for COVID-19 funding, EU Commission warns
Jerome Hughes
Press TV, Brussels
The European Commission warns that millions of citizens and businesses in the EU will bear the brunt if a COVID-19 recovery fund is not urgently agreed by the bloc's leaders. EU nations are divided over a proposed 750-billion Euro aid package, as well as the bloc's long-term budget.
The European Union's internal borders are slowly reopening. Desperate attempts are being made to try and salvage the bloc's crucial tourism industry in defiance of the coronavirus. The economic outlook, however, is bleak to say the least. EU affairs ministers held a lengthy videoconference on Tuesday to try and iron out differences over a planned €750bn COVID-19 recovery fund.
Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and Austria do not like the fact that €500bn of the money would be given out in the form of grants but it is clear the aid package cannot come quickly enough for struggling businesses across the 27-nation EU.
A survey by the self-employed union, SNI, has found that turnover in shops, since they reopened here in Belgium a few weeks ago, has slumped by a third compared to normal times. 95 percent of businesses say they are sitting on large amounts of stock, especially clothing and footwear. The union warns that 1 in 5 small traders risk going bust before the end of this year.
Behind the statistics are real people who have lost their jobs or are in grave danger of doing so. Mental health problems are on the rise, according to experts.
In the European Parliament the point has been made that people who were already struggling, for example in Greece, now face a nightmare scenario.
As people in the EU attempt to return to some level of normality they will be closely watching on Friday to see if a meeting of the bloc's leaders will result in agreement regarding much needed emergency funding.
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