The European Union has decided to reduce the physical meetings of officials and experts, in favor of videoconferences, due to the increase in contamination in Brussels, a spokesman for the German presidency announced on Monday.
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However, he estimated that the negotiations underway between the European Parliament and the States on the 750 billion euro stimulus plan backed by the European budget of more than 1000 billion would continue face-to-face, deeming "
impossible
" to achieve a compromised by remote talks.
"
Faced with the rapid progression of the pandemic, the common objective must be to reach an agreement as quickly as possible and to demonstrate Europe's capacity to act
", commented the spokesperson.
"
The second wave of the pandemic is starting to hit Brussels hard (...) Only the essential meetings necessary for the functioning of the EU or to coordinate the response to the pandemic will continue to be held physically, and only if the conditions of distancing and health rules can be strictly observed,
”he said after a meeting with European ambassadors.
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Belgium, a country of 11.5 million inhabitants, is one of the European countries most affected by the pandemic with 321,031 cases of coronavirus identified on Monday, a figure which has tripled in five weeks, and 10,810 deaths.
The last European summit on October 15 and 16 was jostled by several hasty departures, in particular those of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, who had been in contact with people who tested positive.
