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Journalist Vladimiras Laučius and Lithuanian Ambassador to the European Union Jovita Neliupšienė spoke about it in TV3 studio.
How are the achievements in the fight against coronavir in the European Union, as in Brussels? Has the epidemic been brought under control and overall, perhaps this is a matter for nation states in the first place?
This is all the time, all reactions are a matter for both states and the European Union. On the one hand, what started all the measures (the closure of borders, the closure of certain activities) are national decisions. The European Union can only make recommendations in this case. What is that European Union? We are the Member States.
Wasn’t there some serious action to fight the coronavirus centrally?
The decision to allocate more than 500 billion euros to combat the COVID-19 pandemic was made centrally. And, above all, they will be loans and other assistance to the states that face it or that have the greatest impact. This is an action, another action, this is an aid that we seem to have already forgotten, but in the first weeks, almost 600,000 Europeans were transported from third countries.
There was a general push for the European Union. And the same thing happened with the Lithuanians. Some Lithuanians returned with the help of Lithuanian institutions, others with the help of the countries of the European Union and the EU itself as an institution. And borders are a matter of national competence, managing a company or managing a specific response is a matter of national competence.
The European Commission has issued a number of recommendations on how to proceed, and recommendations are currently being considered to help overcome the situation, of course, in light of national measures. Perhaps sometimes regional, sometimes very individual.
What is that general plan for quarantine? When are you planning to open the walls in the near future?
The Commission is currently preparing at least some recommendations. First, it is proposed to continue to take into account the situation of the pandemic. This is the state of the health system in a particular country. The second element is to take into account the situation in the region. And talk to neighbors about how to open internal borders in particular. The European Union Commission on External Borders will probably recommend a new extension for some time until the pandemic situation in the European Union improves. That is an element.
The next item is probably the most anticipated and most debated here in Brussels, the so-called economic recovery plan and fund. Hopefully this fund will be big enough to help the EU economies recover. And we are talking above all about loans, but also about other forms of support, specific funds for economic recovery. The amounts are not yet known, and the Commission is preparing a proposal together with the revision of the EU multi-annual budget for the financial perspective.
Hopefully next week, or at the latest next week, we have, and then, as always, intense negotiations on financial matters. Hopefully they will be short this time.
As for money, are the 500 billion you mentioned money from the European Stability Mechanism, or something else? Is it the central bank?
One part is money from the European Central Bank, the other part is money from the stability mechanism. There is also some money in the use of the EU budget balances, and another part is the release of the balances that the Member States have in their national envelopes for the EU budget.
And the one and a half trillion fund is what the countries most affected by the coronavirus, the countries of southern Europe, would like best, but Germany and the Netherlands do not seem to be very positive about this fund. Was it possible to reach an agreement?
We are still waiting for the Commission proposal on the exact amount that will be difficult to say so far, probably a million would be the will and the dream of all of us, but keep in mind that the EU is speaking as an institution, an organization that will have to borrow that money. And then by borrowing some of the money to multiply that money using private capital, investing where a national contribution or national co-financing is needed. It is as if more money came out.
The other part will be simple loans, which means that the EU will get much cheaper loans as it is a bigger institution with better credit ratings and the Commission will be able to make loans to other countries with very unfavorable credit ratings in the markets.
And the third part, as I mentioned, the so-called grants or cash from the funds, which we hope will be channeled through the use of existing cohesion programs. A health program will likely be developed. Also the European rescue, emergency program.
Watch the entire conversation in the video report.
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