BRUSSELS - The restrictive measures adopted "are unfortunately necessary once again to flatten the contagion curve" even though they will probably lead to "a significant slowdown in economic activity in the fourth quarter of the year".
This was stated by EU economy commissioner Paolo Gentiloni a few days after the publication of the new economic forecasts in Brussels during his speech at a conference organized by Ceps, a think tank on European policies.
Faced with this perspective,
according to Gentiloni, "we must maintain" the actions to support the economy "to the extent necessary and for as long as" which will be needed
.
Furthermore, the negotiations on the next EU budget and the Next Generation EU plan must be closed "without any further delay".
Gentiloni stressed that the impact of the first wave of Covid on the economy
"would have been much worse" if the national governments had not decided to implement interventions for a total amount of 3,500 billion euros
.
And he recalled how the numbers clearly indicate the dangerous asymmetric nature of the current crisis which, for example, has caused a decline in GDP of 4.5% in Finland compared to the reduction of 18.5% in Spain.
Moreover, the countries most affected by the first wave were precisely those that had less room for maneuver in terms of budget.
All this while about half of the state aid authorized by the EU was disbursed by a single country, Germany.
So the crisis is common and needs a common response, the Commissioner continued, but with actions "targeted" towards those realities "where support is most needed".
The Next Generation Eu plan "may be one of the largest stimulus packages in the world"
by initiating investment and reforms in key areas.
But for the plan to be successful, the former Prime Minister pointed out, "it will be crucial that member states put in place strong coordination structures to ensure that they are able to absorb and spend the enormous resources as effectively as possible" at their disposal.
"We can do more"
to respond to the economic emergency caused by the second wave of the pandemic but being careful "not to question what has already been decided," Gentiloni also said.
"Today - he added - the message to the Member States is crucial: fiscal support and other support measures must be maintained. And the role that the ECB is playing is also very important".
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