Brussels warns of the risk of the pandemic leading to a social crisis

The new waves of infections shattered the dream of a quick recovery.

Brussels now hopes that the depression, which will last longer than expected, will not mutate into a social crisis.

And for this, the Commissioner for the Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, has urged countries not to withdraw stimuli from their economies ahead of time.

“The social impact is there.

The official unemployment figures are bad, but not as bad as we might imagine.

We have other numbers, since the drop in employment among young people or women, that tell us that the social impact is greater than what the official unemployment rates are indicating, "said the commissioner in a videoconference event organized by the Confederation Union of Trade Unions.

The further the pandemic progresses, the greater the certainty in the Commission that the recovery will not be as rapid as expected.

Gentiloni recalled the "enormous success" in the approval of the vaccine.

“Again, this access will not solve the situation in a short period of a few weeks.

We know there is light at the end of the tunnel, but we don't know how long that tunnel is.

And it can take a long time ”, lamented the commissioner.

The Italian politician pointed out that the EU must try to prevent the crisis from taking over the citizenship, protected by security nets that go from temporary job protection systems to aid.

The commissioner considered that the "reaction" of the EU, first with the SURE fund to preserve jobs and later with the recovery fund, has made it possible to "mitigate" in a certain way that social impact.

However, Gentiloni advocated acting from now on in three directions: first, he advocated maintaining fiscal support for the European economy by capitals;

second, to ensure the quality of the recovery plans and to focus on their "social dimension", which the Portuguese presidency has proposed to highlight, and third, the discussion on a fiscal policy capable of supporting "growth" and The sustainability".

Community institutions, in fact, share a sense of urgency in the face of the ravages of the crisis.

The president of the Eurogroup, the Irish Paschal Donohoe, emphasized last Monday before the European Parliament his rejection of an “immediate withdrawal of fiscal stimuli”.

"We all agree that our immediate priority is to protect and financially support our citizens, particularly the youngest and those most exposed to the crisis," he said.