EPP Vice-President Muresan calls for suspension of tariffs on all protective and medical equipment

In a letter sent on Wednesday to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the Vice-President of European People’s Party in the EU Parliament, Siegfried Muresan urged the European Union to abolish tariffs for protective and medical supplies, as a key step to assisting national authorities with tackling the COVID-19 emergency.
“As we are facing one of the most serious public health crisis in the history of the EU, we must use all available EU tools to alleviate the situation and help Member States,” Muresan’s letter reads.
The VP stressed that several member-states are facing severe shortages of protective and relevant medical equipment, and the application of customs tariffs does not facilitate their availability. The same applies to cases where tariffs are very low, as they still pose barriers to a more efficient response to the virus’ outbreak.