EPP Group calls for European coordination when lifting lockdown

The EPP Group has called for a "gradual, cautious, well-coordinated and forward-looking plan" to lift the Coronavirus confinement and lockdown measures in EU countries, said Markus Ferber MEP, the EPP Group’s Spokesman for Economic and Monetary Affairs, ahead of today's presentation of the ‘Roadmap towards lifting COVID-19 containment measures’ by the European Commission.

“We want Member States to apply the same measures to the same situations all across Europe. Member States failed miserably to coordinate when going into the crisis. They now need to do better when restarting the economy. We need the same transparent criteria across Europe - when a business can restart and when it can’t", Ferber continued.

The EPP Group is also calling for legal certainty for businesses. “Coordination and a forward-looking approach are crucial. In order to reactivate complex supply chains, businesses need certainty and time to plan ahead. If, for instance, France prolongs business closures whereas Belgium relaxes the rules, this does not only hurt the Single Market, but creates additional uncertainty for businesses that are already struggling”, he concluded.