"
The crisis could leave scars and reopen old wounds,
" writes the international organization in a report on the impact of Covid-19 on the Old Continent.
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The health crisis has affected very unevenly European states have been affected very unevenly.
Successive lockdowns have been particularly destructive for the service sector, which often employs "
an abundant low-skilled workforce
".
This could lead to an increase in “
inequalities and (of) poverty
” within Europe, argues the OECD.
"
Due to their heavy dependence on tourism and the high number of very small businesses that characterize them, the southern EU economies are those which saw their GDP fall most sharply in 2020,
" explains moreover this study.
Investing in the ecological transition
To tackle the widening gaps between states and within regions, the OECD calls in particular to use the European recovery plan of 750 billion euros through investments in digital transformation and ecological transition.
The first checks of the European recovery plan, financed for the first time by debt raised jointly, were released last August.
“
If it is not the subject of public action, digital transformation could worsen regional disparities and lead to an increased spatial concentration of growth and job creation
,” notes the OECD.
Regarding carbon neutrality, insufficiently energetic action "would
disproportionately disadvantage regions heavily dependent on coal mining and carbon-intensive industries
," she also warns.