The Renew Europe Group welcomes today the adoption by the European Parliament of the joint resolution on "EU coordinated action to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences". This resolution is a urgent call to the European Commission and the European Council to go beyond saying it will do “whatever it takes” to save lives, protect jobs, and liberal democracy and actually act on it. Solidarity, ambition and reactivity must be the driving force for the EU right now.
President of Renew Europe, Dacian Cioloş: "We will be judged by our actions, but we will never be forgiven for our inaction. We have overused the phrase "whatever it takes” but we have seen little proof yet that we have moved from rhetoric to concrete action. This resolution is a call for further measures. EU citizens rightly have high expectations from us; we must live up to them. We need to launch a European Marshall Plan to reassure our citizens that we will do all in our power to protect their jobs and create the future ones."
He concluded: "Europe has to emerge from this crisis united and stronger with a guiding principle of solidarity and cooperation. If not now, then when can we show that the EU is capable of building a better world, equipped to protect our citizens in unprecedented times? This will certainly not be the last crisis we have to face together, this challenge and the choices it forces us to make, will be the EU's legacy. We must decide now what we want that legacy to be.”
I am delighted that Renew Europe has been a driving force to build a strong majority within the European Parliament around this strong resolution, avoiding sterile and minor political games when times require responsibility and unity, showing that European democracy is fully mobilised despite the difficult conditions. "