Europeans will find “smart solutions” to allow them to take summer vacations despite the coronavirus pandemic, said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Her tone, in an interview with Expresso Sunday, was more upbeat than her advice in an interview last weekend that people should not book their holidays just yet.
“I think we are going to find smart solutions for having a summer vacation. Maybe a little different, with other hygiene measures, with a little more social distance, but it is impressive to see that we will find solutions,” von der Leyen said
The commission president said “it is good” EU countries are starting to “lift restrictive measures”, but warned governments must move forward “with care, step by step and always with vigilance.”
This week, the European Commission published guidelines to improve coordination among the 27 national capitals in lifting restrictive measures.
“It is difficult to predict what the next months will be like, but what I see is that we are starting to learn to live with the virus,” von der Leyen said, adding that she is “impressed” with the solutions that have been found to maintain several economic sectors working.
On the Union’s response to the outbreak, the commission president acknowledged there were “critical moments” at the beginning of the crisis, but “after a few days, countries realized that they were unable to manage this crisis alone” and coordination improved.
“We now see Romanian doctors and Polish nurses going to Italy to help; we see French patients being in Austria or Luxembourg; we see ventilators going from Germany to Spain,” von der Leyen said. “This is the Europe I love, where a strong and supportive heart is beating and this is how we must move forward.”
The Commission chief rejected the notion that the crisis threatened the collapse of the EU, after leaders such as Portugal’s Prime Minister António Costa questioned the survival of the European project with 27 member countries if support to the most affected economies is not guaranteed.
“No, I think we have proved that we can grow with this crisis and we are together again.”
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