Dear friends,
Dear interested,
I would like to inform you about a draft resolution on the European response to the corona crisis proposed by the Green group in the German Parliament which is debated today. We are very pleased that we have achieved an alignment with our Coronabonds position in the European Parliament. The German Greens in the Bundestag have requested an immediate vote, to take place today at 1.15 pm. As this was rejected, the motion will be transferred to committee level.
In her speech this morning, Angela Merkel excluded treaty changes to allow the creation of joint debt instruments, but left an opening for a recovery fund within the EU Budget to which Germany is ready to contribute more in the coming years. She has also not excluded debt issuance in the framework of the budget. This gives me hope that Germany won’t be in the way to create a relevant recovery fund along the lines promoted by the Commission. However, how much real solidarity the Berlin coalition is ready to support remains to be seen. We will continue to put pressure on the government for a strong fiscal policy response for keeping Europe and the Eurozone together.
With European greetings,
Sven Giegold
Key points of the draft motion:
- Stabilising and restarting in solidarity:
- commitment to a Recovery Fund that shares the financial burden of the crisis in a joint and democratic manner, provides additional resources of EUR 1 trillion to meet the challenge of the crisis and be macro-economically relevant.
- This fund should be financed on a one-off basis by means of joint loans without increasing the national debt burden and be oriented towards the Paris Climate Change Agreement and promote climate protection within the framework of the Green Deal as well as social justice.
- It should provide for disbursement largely through EU programmes, allow for long-term repayment according to economic performance measured by GDP and also provide for financing through new own resources and the reduction of tax dumping (fair taxation of tax havens).
- The fund should not replace the planned European unemployment reinsurance scheme and be conditioned to the respect of the rule of law and democracy.
- increase Germany’s contribution to the MFF from 2021 on
- Protect democracy and human rights:
- to support the EU Commission in its function as “Guardian of the Treaties” in examining the respective Covid19 containment measures of the member states for their proportionality and compatibility with the fundamental values of the European Union
- to pay more attention to the dramatic situation of particularly vulnerable groups such as Roma throughout Europe.
- to work for the European Parliament to be involved as the heart of European democracy in overcoming the Corona crisis, in particular in setting up and monitoring the recovery fund in the EU budget
- Get out of the crisis together – coordinating exit strategies and creating necessary conditions together:
- advocate coordination of epidemiological strategies and exit strategies between Member States and support the EU Commission in implementing the European exit roadmap and coordinating and harmonising gradual easing of containment measures
- support intensifying research cooperations and exchanging the latest findings on therapeutic approaches and protective measures
- to design the tracing app to be developed not only in conformity with data protection regulations and as a voluntarily tool, but if possible developed and hosted by European providers, also in order to comply with the guidelines established by the EU Commission for the development of effective digital instruments.
- Preserving the free movement of persons and the single European market:
- to return to the full functioning of the Schengen area as soon as possible
- that arbitrary border controls at national level are replaced by targeted restrictions at regional level, which then also apply across borders
Link to the text of the draft motion for resolution (in German): https://sven-giegold.de/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Antrag-Europa-F-79-20-AK4.docx