Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has called on the European Union not to make tragic mistakes in the fight against the coronavirus, so as not to lose its ground for existence, France Press reported. Conte said this in an interview with the Italian daily Il Sole 24 Ore, published today.
"Inaction will put the brunt of the devastated economy on our children. Do we want to be at the height of this challenge? Then let's come up with an European recovery and reinvestment plan that will support the European economy and help it work again, "the Italian Prime Minister said.
The European Council meeting on Thursday showed "not just disagreement, but genuine and frank opposition" with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, "because we are experiencing a crisis that is killing many of our fellow citizens and causing a severe economic recession. I am a representative of a country that has suffered a lot and I cannot afford to dodge. In Italy, and in other EU Member States, we are forced to make tragic choices. In Europe, we must avoid making tragic choices. If Europe does not show it is at the height of this unprecedented challenge, the whole European project risks losing, in the eyes of our own citizens, its reason to exist. "
At the European Council meeting, Conte told other leaders that the European Stability Mechanism is not appropriate at this moment. This mechanism "is a tool designed to assist Member States that have financial difficulties linked to asymmetric shocks. However, the coronavirus creates a symmetrical shock "and adversely affects our economic and social systems in a synchronous and completely unexpected way," said Giuseppe Conte.
According to the Italian leader, it goes about "something completely different from the 2008 crisis. We are at a critical juncture in European history, "he stressed.
