Secretary of state Iulia Matei spoke about managing COVID-19 crisis at informal meeting of EU officials

Secretary of state for European Affairs Iulia Matei on Wednesday participated in the informal meeting of the ministers and secretaries of state for European Affairs of the EU Member States that was held as a videoconference, informed a press release of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) sent to AGERPRES.

The meeting focused on the measures adopted at the EU level and by the Member States in managing the current crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, being also meant as an occasion for exchanging best practices between the Member States in managing the crisis.

The officials also discussed such aspects provided by the two common strategic documents proposed by the European Commission and the President of the European Council, the Roadmap on lifting the containment measures imposed in the context of COVID-19 and the Roadmap on relaunching the economy, to be also be discussed by the European leaders.

In her speech, the Romanian official highlighted that the recent experience in managing the COVID-19 crisis at the EU level requires the formulation of some "learnt lessons" that could serve in defining the future joint actions at European level. Thus, the secretary of state showed that the current crisis revealed that there is a need for more coordinated action at EU level in the healthcare field. In this context, she underscored the opportunity of initiating a reflection process to focus on the possibilities of strengthening the capacities and competencies of the EU in this field.

She also underscored the need for efficient and rapid coordination between the Member States in their relationship with the European institutions and also of adequate public communication in combating misinformation and correctly informing citizens and the business environment on the measures adopted at the EU level and on the competencies the various EU institutions hold in managing the current crisis. The secretary of state went on to show that observing the fundamental values and rights, as well as showing solidarity between the Member States contribute, even more in the current context, in maintaining the relevance and value-added of the European Union.

The secretary of state referred to the process of agreeing on coordinated measures at EU level for overcoming the crisis, in which context he pointed out that the Roadmap presented by the European Commission and the President of the European Council on April 15, 2020, provided a good basis for further discussions on this topic.

At the same time, she underlined that this approach must take into account the particularities of the crisis, the different capacities of the national medical systems, as well as the different magnitude of the impact generated by the crisis in the Member States.

Also, the Romanian official welcomed the initiative of the presentation, by the European Commission and the President of the European Council, of a common Roadmap on post-crisis economic recovery. In this context, she emphasized the need to ensure a coordinated and inclusive vision at EU level in the coming period on the measures needed for economic recovery.

The Romanian Secretary of state has shown that the future Multiannual Financial Framework will have a strengthened role in the implementation of these objectives. In this context, she emphasized the importance of an ambitious and flexible European budget that would allow, even more so, sufficient resources for economic recovery, investment promotion and the reduction of development gaps between the Member States. Also, the Romanian official pointed out that cohesion policy and the common agricultural policy must maintain their central role of main investment policies and in the future budget of the Union.

Iulia Matei expressed appreciation for the flexibility proposals launched by the European Commission on the current financial programming framework and pointed out that such solutions must also be found in the future budget of the Union, so as to stimulate a speedy recovery of the economy.