On 27 May 2020, it finally happened: The Commission presented its eagerly awaited recovery plan. 500 billion Euro shall put the European economy back on its feet and pave the way for forthcoming transformations; further 250 billion shall help individual Member States with favourable loans.

Das aktuelle Factsheet der Reihe „EU & International auf einen Blick“ gibt eine Übersicht über die wichtigsten Maßnahmen, die die EU-Institutionen in Zusammenhang mit der Coronakrise bis Mai 2020 ergriffen haben. Darüber hinaus zeigt es die zentralen AK-Forderungen für einen ökologischen und sozial gerechten Wiederaufbau Europas auf.

The COVID-19 crisis once more shows the necessity and urgency of a Digital Services Act. The issue is now also dealt with by the European Parliament apart from being the reason for Commissioner for Digital, Margrethe Vestager, to be invited to an exchange of views.

On 6 May, Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni presented the Spring 2020 Economic Forecast. The EU is faced with a recession of unprecedented scale. However, there are also grounds for hope.

Nobody could know the extent of the Coronavirus crisis when the Commission published its Country Report for Austria on 26 February 2020. The right lessons must be learned before the European Semester takes the next steps.

With a motion for a resolution on a joint exit strategy out of the Coronavirus crisis, the EU Parliament is putting clear guidelines on the table. It is now up to the European Commission and the Member States to take due account of the demands of the only institution of the European Union with direct democratic legitimacy.

Will the Green Deal fall victim to the collateral damage of the coronavirus crisis, or will it help us to emerge from the crisis? Whilst business lobby groups push for a delay with regard to action aimed at the Green Deal, other actors are campaigning for the Green Deal to be maintained.

The COVID-19 crisis hits the travel and tourism industry particularly hard. To ensure that consumers do not bear the brunt, the Commission specifies current rules and makes the case for a balanced solution between financial aid for businesses and protecting consumers in the European Parliament.

Following tough negotiations on 9 April 2020, the finance ministers of the 19 States of the euro area achieved political agreement for a package of measures, which might comprise up to € 540 billion. However, details are not known yet. These and further measures will be negotiated in the coming days and weeks.

Looking back at the chaos of Member states acting solo at the beginning of the corona crisis, the European Commission puts forward a different approach for the relaxation of the coronavirus measures: On 15 April 2020, the Commission presented a “Roadmap” with recommendations to the Member states concerning the gradual relaxation of current restrictions – based on coordination and solidarity.