The European Commission called for implementing a package of measures to face the economic consequences of the expansion of the Coronavirus epidemic.
“The depth and the breadth of this crisis requires a response unprecedented in scale, speed, and solidarity,” stated the European Commission in a report.
The proposal, which was released on Thursday, includes a short-time work scheme that consists of cutting the number of hours of work instead of firing people. If followed, the government would have to pay the differential in salaries. Besides this, the report calls for facilitating farmers and fishermen access to funds, increasing the amount of money they have access to and giving them more time to apply for aid.
“These measures will help protect thousands of jobs in the EU’s coastal regions and maintain food security,” said the EU’s Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius.
To finance this plan the European Commission would borrow 100 billion euros on the markets and then it would lend it to the EU members, after determining the terms of the loan. This would be helpful for those countries that have a poor credit rating.
“(It) can benefit all the member states who want to use it,” said the European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen during a short press conference.
The proposal would need to be approved by the European Parliament and the EU member states before it's implemented, and was considered without precedents since it would waive the need for any national co-financing, which in practical terms means that public expenditure moves could be financed by the European Union members in their totality.
“This is an unprecedented move which reflects the need for the Member States to use all available means to support their citizens at this moment,” stated the European Commission in its document.
By 12:21 GMT the Euro went down against the US Dollar by 0.60 percent, falling to the 1.0896 level. Conversely, it went down by 0.34 percent, falling to the 1.0548 level and fell by 0.44 percent against the Japanese Yen, falling to the 116.94 level.