"Coronavirus, a crash test for Europe": French and German MEPs join forces

The Covid-19 health crisis is a test for European integration, with a withdrawal from the member states. In an attempt to maintain cohesion, two parliamentarians, a French and a German, Christophe Arend, LREM deputy from Forbach, and Andreas Jung, CDU deputy from Baden-Württemberg, wrote a joint declaration entitled "Together against the coronavirus".

"If the EU fails in the crisis, the virus will infect the European idea, and it will destroy it," they warn, before detailing actions for cooperation between the two countries.

Very interesting reading and proposals: Franco-German initiatives by deputies @ christophearend🇫🇷 and MdB Andreas Jung🇩🇪 👏 # COVID19 #TousEnsemble PDF bilingual 👉 https://t.co/c7TDZOLcGe

France 24: How did the idea of ​​making this joint declaration come about?

Christophe Arend: The idea was born at the start of the health crisis. I am a border deputy from Germany. This crisis had very specific repercussions in our area. I quickly talked to my counterpart Andreas Jung. We are both co-presidents of the Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly.

There was the situation in the border area. The Germans closed the borders. This generated, for example, tensions with border workers. There was also the need to be able to cooperate by taking care of French patients in Germany in particular. We tried to have the support of the two presidents of our assemblies, Wolfgang Schäuble and Richard Ferrand, to do foresight. The idea is to say how France and Germany could or could in the future cope with these kinds of crises, while being a promoter of Europe.

We started from the specific field problems that we encountered in the border area, but also from the positive things in the reception of patients. We also noted a lack of cooperation at the start in the face of a crisis that no one could have imagined. We could have managed differently by collaborating more closely and earlier.

‼ ️ It's official = Reopening of the # border between Petite-Rosselle and Grossrosseln‼ ️ I salute this wise decision. Friendship, exemplaire by being exemplary, can overcome all crises! # UnisDansLaDiversité # Covid19 🇪🇺 pic.twitter.com/Do43fXdPPI

In your joint statement, you call for a "health union". What does it consist of?

This has several components. First, we are trying to pool the elements of coordination. This is what is happening today. A certain number of patients left from the east of France to the West or to other European countries. We can thus coordinate the health capacities of each country.

Secondly, with modern means of communication, we can also more densely interconnect our research networks: medical, fundamental or even scientific. What are 67 million French or 80 million Germans today compared to the United States and China? If we reason on a European scale, even after leaving the United Kingdom, with 450 million people, we have a weight. Most of the great discoveries in the past have been made by European researchers.

And thirdly, we will have to try to store together the capacities to react to such a crisis. It is easier today to import respirators from Germany to Italy, rather than going to look for them in China. This raises the question of the relocation of our health capacities in Europe. We are trying to have a common Defense. We should, in the same way, have a common response to a health crisis of this type.

Is this declaration also a response to the fear of withdrawal and the fear of seeing Europe weaken with this crisis?

Today, we are moving on an extremely fine ridge line and we are windswept. In my opinion, we are not yet in a position to say on which side we are going to fall. With Andreas Jung, we are convinced democrats and we seek with this declaration to tip the scales on the side of democracy and on the side of a sustainable future.

It is not to maintain the flame of Europe, but to rekindle it. I am convinced that only at European level can certain problems be resolved. During this coronavirus crisis, some fell back, but it is counterproductive. We must reverse the trend. Europe is really the relevant level for solving the major problems of civilization that are coming to us, be it the environment, migration, the economy or even research. Chancellor Angela Merkel said yesterday that it was the worst crisis the [EU] has experienced since its creation. This coronavirus is a bit of a crash test for Europe. They should not be interpreted as failures, but as realizations. Let's start looking at the after. Our forum aims to say: Europe can come out stronger if it learns from it. Only she can get us out of there.

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