PES President Sergei Stanishev, S&D President Iratxe Garcia, and Christophe Rouillon, President of the PES Group in the Committee of the Regions, have today written to the Eurogroup calling for action to mitigate the socioeconomic impact of the COVID-19 outbreak in Europe.

The letter welcomes the steps that have already been taken by the Commission and European Central Bank, but sets out further progressive measures that must now be taken:

“…we call for a European-wide COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plan, with a consolidated and coherent strategy for the rapid mobilisation of the different available EU instruments to support people, SMEs and businesses…

“The equity of the European Investment Bank must be increased, and most importantly, the potential offered by the European Stability Mechanism must be used through a mandatory credit line to finance a common investment instrument. We call on the EUROGROUP to come forward with a proper stimulus package agreed at the European level.”

Read the full article here.