Coronavirus. Urgently assist Member States. We can do it !
(B2) To all those who have their 'finger on the seam of the treaty', I will give them a little advice: revise your classics
A certain Council regulation dating from March 2016 (1) sets out a whole series of reasons justifying emergency and humanitarian aid on European territory. Everything is written in it. Just apply.
Man-made or natural disasters can be of such magnitude and have such an impact that they can cause serious economic difficulties in one or more Member States. They may also occur in one or more Member States which are already facing, for other reasons, serious economic difficulties, which has the consequence of exacerbating and further aggravating the general economic situation of those Member States. In both cases, the reaction capacity of the Member States concerned would be impaired by this situation, which would in turn have a negative effect on the provision of assistance and aid to the population in need. (Recital 4)
[…] While mutual assistance can be offered within the framework of the Union's Civil Protection Mechanism […], this operates thanks to voluntary contributions from the Member States. [...] (Recital 5)
It therefore seems appropriate for the Union to act in a spirit of solidarity in order to provide for the basic needs of people who are victims of disasters in the Union and to contribute to reducing the economic impact of these disasters on the Member States concerned.. (Recital 6)
Given the need to act in a spirit of solidarity, the granting of emergency assistance under this Regulation should be financed by the general budget of the Union as well as by contributions which may come from other public or private donors. (Recital 8)
[This text] should throw the basis for granting financial support in the event of natural or man-made disasters for which, in a spirit of solidarity, the Union would be better placed than the Member States, which act alone and in an uncoordinated manner, to mobilize the appropriate levels of funding and use them economically, efficiently and effectively for the purposes of actions likely to save lives, thus making possible a more effective action because of its scale and its complementarity. (Recital 12)
An existing device, which can be triggered at any time
This document is not 30 years old. It was proposed by the European Commission, as a matter of urgency (March 2, 2016!), at the request of the European Council (February 19), and adopted barely two weeks later, on March 15. It intervened in a context of crisis, but much more limited than today, because it concerned only one country (Greece), then faced with a migration and refugee crisis. And, if there was an 'emergency' at the time, there was no immediate mortal danger, like today, with several thousand deaths per day (in Italy, Spain, France).
Stop the permanent discard
At some point, Europe will have to assume its responsibilities. That she does not say (as often) “it is not my fault, it is that of the Member States”. This kind of excuse in the form of discarding is no longer audible today. When Europe wants, it can... If it doesn't, it's not that it can't, it's that it doesn't want to!
Use it all and revolutionize frames
The current generalized crisis imposes to use all the existing instruments, if they do not exist to create them, if they are too constraining, to shake up the existing one. We must revolutionize the frameworks!
(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)
- Council Regulation (EU) 2016/369 of 15 March 2016 on the provision of emergency assistance within the Union (OJEU L 70/2 of 16.3.2016)
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