EU COVID-19 response to integrate green transition economies

EU leaders said on March 26 measures necessary to get back to a normal functioning of
Europe’s societies and economies must integrate the green transition and the digital transformation.
Following the informal European Council virtual summit on March 26, EU leaders adopted a joint statement on the EU actions in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, calling on the European Parliament and Commission to “prepare the measures necessary to get back to a normal functioning of our societies and economies and to sustainable growth, integrating inter alia the green transition and the digital transformation, and drawing all lessons from the crisis.” “This will require a coordinated exit strategy, a comprehensive recovery plan and unprecedented investment. We invite the President of the Commission and the President of the European Council, in consultation with other institutions, especially the ECB, to start work on a Roadmap accompanied by an Action Plan to this end,” the statement read.
“We must also draw all the lessons of the present crisis and start reflecting on the resilience of our societies when confronted with such events. In that respect, the time has come to put into place a more ambitious and wide-ranging crisis management system within the EU. We invite the Commission to make proposals in that respect,” the joint statement read.
Commenting on the joint statement, SolarPower Europe CEO Walburga Hemetsberger said the decision of the European Council to include the green transition as a key element of the European COVID-19 stimulus package is smart and forward-looking. “Solar power, as the most job intensive, low-cost and easily deployed renewable technology can play an important role in this regard. We are collaborating closely with our members to bring forward concrete proposals with the aim of mitigating the effects of the virus on the European solar sector and boosting new investments across the entire solar industrial value chain,” she said.
Greenpeace said ahead of the virtual summit the EU’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic must focus on saving lives and help make our societies fairer, greener and more resilient to future crises.
“Corporate bailouts must not be blank cheques, but conditional on the protection of workers and a transition to a just and green society. Governments and the EU should not repeat the mistakes of the 2008 financial crisis and hand out cash to big corporate players with no strings attached,” Greenpeace EU democracy policy adviser Ariadna Rodrigo argued.
Greenpeace, along with many others, called for any EU support or stimulus package to help build a fairer and more resilient society, based on better health care, employment standards, social and environmental protections.
In its inaugural European Green Deal package, the European Commission set the stage for an environmental transition, Greenpeace said, adding that the current Covid-19 crisis and the resulting economic downturn demonstrates the profound need for the social and economic transition to be both just and green, enabling us to be resilient in the face of crisis, including health, inequality, climate and biodiversity.