Covid19 in Europe: the worst crisis since World War II

Covid19:the worst crisis since World War II

Rome [ENA] With Europe in the middle of the worst crisis since World War II, it seems evident that the social and economic impact of the pandemic will be suffered for quite some time. While the European Union has been working hard to tackle the immediate fallout of Covid-19, it has also been working hard on the post-pandemic recovery. Central to this is €1.8 trillion in investment to restore Europe’s economy .

Following a deal struck this month, key EU programmes like Horizon Europe, EU4Health and Erasmus+ will acquire an extra €16 billion to fund vital research and innovation, strengthen Europe’s health systems, and allow more young Europeans to benefit from life-changing education and training. Millions of Europeans took to the streets last year to urge imperative action to address the climate crisis. Over the next seven years, at least 30% of EU funding will be set aside for climate action.

To ensure the cost of the Covid-19 recovery does not fall on Europe’s taxpayers, there has been an arrangement on the introduction of new sources of EU revenue – including levies on unrecycled plastic waste, the tech giants and big foreign polluters. EU countries contribute to a common EU budget in order to achieve common objectives. Unlike national budgets, the EU budget is an investment budget and is not allowed to run a deficit. The EU treaties stipulate that the Union’s budget “shall be financed wholly from own resources”. As the EU budget must always be in balance, annual revenue must entirely cover annual spending. For the present budgetary period (2014-2020), the overall amount of own

resources cannot surpass 1.23% of the EU’s gross national income. Actually, from January 2021 there will be a new national contribution based on non-recycled plastic packaging waste (that would encourage reduced use of single-use plastics, foster recycling and boost the circular economy). Eight out of ten Europeans say they want receipt of EU funding to be dependent on observance to the rule of law and democratic principles. A new mechanism will ensure that countries that violate the rule of law will risk losing access to EU funds.

Rule of law is a common concern among Europeans. In a 2019 Eurobarometer survey, at least 85% of respondents across the EU considered each of the different aspects of the rule of law as crucial or important. Another survey, from October 2020, found that 77% of Europeans support the concept that the EU should only provide funds to EU countries if they are in compliance with the rule of law and democratic principles.