Years of austerity for EU citizens in wake of COVID-19
Jerome Hughes
Press TV, Brussels
It is probably fair to say that millions of people living in the EU do not fully appreciate just how much influence the bloc's executive arm, the European Commission, has on their lives.
In the light of COVID-19, the commission has said it will not penalize countries for breaking budget rules but has equally made it clear that austerity will be back. That warning came as the commission presented its so-called European Semester Spring Package.
On the jobs front it has promised to support young adults in particular and has called on member states to do their part in this regard. The commission says 30 million people in the EU have already been laid off work and youth unemployment is running at least 50% in some countries.
According to the trade and services federation, Comeos, here in Belgium alone, hotels restaurants and cafes are losing 47 million euro a day as a result of being closed due to the virus. There are calls for the VAT rate to be cut from 21% to 6% but even with measures like that there are forecasts that many, many businesses will not survive.
Unemployment can only be reduced by economic growth, experts point out. Given that this is both a health emergency and a financial crisis there are clearly no easy answers and 446 million inhabitants across 27 countries are anxiously waiting to see if the EU can meet those challenges more effectively than during the last economic crisis.
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