Coronavirus: Giuseppe Conte calls on the EU to be more "ambitious, united and courageous"

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Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Friday called on the European Union to be more "ambitious, united and courageous" in the face of the Covid-19 epidemic, in a response to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

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“ Faced with a storm like the Covid-19 which affects us all, there is no need for a life jacket for Italy but for a solid European lifeboat that would take our united countries to safety. This is a good summary of the response sent by the head of the Italian government to Ursula von der Leyen this Friday in the columns of La Repubblica . Thursday, the president of the European Commission had apologized to Italy in a letter published by the daily, acknowledging that if today, Europe is present alongside Italy, " it did not always been the case ”. " It must be recognized," she wrote, "that at the beginning of the crisis, faced with the need for a common European response, far too many had thought only of their national problems. "

"Solidarity must be the ink with which we write this page of history"

"Now is the time to show more ambition, more unity and more courage, " writes Giuseppe Conte this Friday, when his country remains the hardest hit by the Covid-19 epidemic. “ We are called upon to make a qualitative leap which would allow us to qualify as a political and social union, and not just an economic one. " Solidarity must be the ink with which we write this page of history. "

Concretely, the head of the Italian government wants to go " beyond " the commitment of the 100 billion euros allocated by the EU to the countries most affected to compensate for the drop in income. He also considers the "Coronas bonds" - which he calls the "European recovery bonds" - necessary to " finance the extraordinary efforts that Europe will have to deploy to rebuild its economic and social fabric ". No question of sharing the past debt of the countries concerned, but rather " to fully use the true" firepower "" of the European family "in order to give birth to a" common and shared program of support and revival of our economy for ensuring a dignified future for families, businesses, workers and all of our children . ”

This Friday morning on the antenna of Europe 1, the President of the Commission said she was " convinced that Europe will emerge stronger from this crisis ".

(with AFP)

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• Coronavirus
• Italy
• European Union
• Giuseppe Conte
• Ursula von der Leyen

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