On 23 April 2020, EU heads of state and government met via video conference to address the development of economic measures to recover from the coronavirus crisis. However, instead of proposing ambitious measures, in particular coronabonds, a mutualised debt instrument, EU Leaders decided not to decide. The European Commission is instead tasked with the responsibility of designing a recovery plan within the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).

Evelyne Huytebroeck, co-chair of the European Green Party comments: 

“While European citizens were expecting a strong message of solidarity, EU leaders disappointingly kicked the can down the road by passing the burden of designing an economic recovery plan on the shoulder of the European Commission. It seems that EU leaders still fail to understand that solidarity is beneficial for the entire European project, both in social and economic terms.”

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