The European Parliament approved a package of proposals to help healthcare and economies affected by coronavirus. MEPs voting by a large majority supported a dozen amendments to EU standards to allow for flexible use of EU funds in the current crisis. Parliament also adopted a resolution calling on states to approve a massive economic recovery plan, including the issuance of common bonds, to which some countries are skeptical.
For the second time MEPs acted in extraordinary circumstances due to coronavirus constraints. Because the vast majority of them stayed at home, they discussed with videoconferencing and voted by e-mail. Of the nearly seven hundred voters, more than 600 MEPs supported individual proposals.
For example, they approved the possibility of using the unused cohesion money from the multi-annual budget ending this year for health care and assistance to companies. After the release of € 37 billion in March, states will be able to draw additional money from the Structural Funds without special conditions, moreover, with greater flexibility of transfers between individual funds and often without state co-financing.
MEPs also agreed to release € 3 billion to help healthcare, including buying test kits and providing financial assistance to the most vulnerable groups. They also approved an increase in funding for the European Center for Disease Prevention and the control or release of additional money to organize the return of EU citizens from outside Europe.
"I must appreciate the flexibility with which the European Parliament has been able to react. Assistance to states struggling with a pandemic must be effective and reach them as quickly as possible. Any hesitation can be fatal," commented Czech Liberal MEP Martina Dlabajova.
With a less unambiguous 395 to 171 vote - another 128 abstained - the European Parliament adopted a non-binding resolution calling on states to approve a robust recovery plan following a pandemic that should be in the order of billions of euros. According to MEPs, it should also include common bonds, which are particularly sought by the most affected southern European countries such as Italy and Spain. By contrast, Germany and the Netherlands, which have traditionally pursued a fiscal reticent policy, do not want to share debt sharing.
"It is a tool that many call for. We must ensure that countries' spending is shared," EP President David Sassoli said after the vote.
The economic recovery plan will be the main topic of the video conference of EU leaders next Thursday.
MEPs also raised concerns about developments in Hungary and Poland. As a result of the state of emergency, the Hungarian government has had unlimited time to manage the country by means of decrees, while the Polish government hastily pushed through the amendment to the electoral law in order to hold presidential elections during the pandemic. The EP called on the European Commission to swiftly verify that all actions of both countries comply with EU law.
MEPs opposed to the resolution voted against the resolution, while representatives of the Polish and Hungarian government parties did not support it because of the mention of their countries. A point urging social network operators to actively identify and eliminate misinformation and hate speech has also raised disputes. According to some MEPs, automatic text filters, using large Internet platforms such as Facebook, threaten freedom of expression.
"We should work on developing and promoting trusted sources instead of introducing automated social media filters. These are inherently unreliable and I can confirm from my own experience that they are already removing relevant information because of them", said Czech Vice-President Marcel Kolaja , who did not support the resolution, along with his pirate colleagues.
The resolution adopted also calls for the creation of a solidarity fund of at least € 50 billion to support the health sector both during and after the crisis. The EP also proposed strengthening the powers of the EU institutions in the event of similar threats so that the EU can react more quickly and coordinate joint actions in the future. At present, the health protection competences are in the hands of the Member States, who usually do not want to entrust them to Union bodies on similarly sensitive issues.
