Press release – Erasmus+ students during Covid-19: MEPs call for more support and clarity

In a letter addressed to Commissioner Mariya Gabriel on Wednesday, the Members of the Culture and Education Committee point out that the Commission’s current way of communicating, as well as the different approaches and lack of information from national agencies, do not provide certainty that extra costs will be reimbursed and that Erasmus+ exchange students and participants of the Solidarity Corps programme will be able to retain their status.

They also ask for students to be supported to ensure that they do not lose this academic year and can obtain the necessary academic credits via virtual learning.

EU volunteers must retain their status and be deployed to national schemes

In their letter, MEPs also call on the Commission to ensure that Solidarity Corps programme participants can retain their status as volunteers for the planned duration of their placement, even if it has been suspended. They would therefore be able to complete their voluntary service and not risk losing family income, like child support, that is linked to the volunteer status.

They also recommend repurposing the voluntary activities for the suspended European Solidarity Corps participants, for example by deploying volunteers to national support schemes being implemented to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.

Finally, MEPs call for “a clear policy, clearly communicated and consistently implemented across member states”, saying that people and organisations affected are “deeply worried” and “need to feel that the Commission is on their side”.

”The class of 2020 needs us”

“We call on the Commission to directly support all those participating in education, culture and youth programmes. That means working with national agencies, universities, technical colleges, schools, youth organisations and voluntary organisations to make sure our participants are safe and are given help to get home where necessary. It also means reassuring them that extra costs will be reimbursed, that project rules will be applied flexibly and that they will retain their status as Solidarity Corps volunteers or Erasmus+ learners.”, said Sabine Verheyen (EPP, DE), Chair of the Committee on Culture and Education.

“We have a duty to make sure that those who signed up to our programmes get the help and the support they need. The class of 2020 needs us”, she stressed.

Background

Currently 165 000 people across Europe are on an Erasmus+ exchange and 5 000 more are involved in Solidarity Corps volunteering projects.

The Commission has communicated that member state agencies which coordinate the projects may invoke force majeure clauses to enable grants to be paid when exchanges are cut short or otherwise interrupted, to enable activities to be postponed and to allow exceptional costs to be reimbursed.

Press release – MEPs debate support for EU farmers to deal with COVID-19

The debate will focus on measures proposed by the European Commission so far, including loans or guarantees at favourable conditions to cover operational costs of up to €200,000 and reallocating unused agriculture funds to fight the effects of the COVID-19 crisis in rural areas.

The Commission also proposed to cut the number of physical on-farm checks and to increase, from mid-October, advances of direct payments and rural development payments.

MEPs are also set to quiz Commissioner Wojciechowski on how he intends to secure cross-border access for farmers to all necessary production inputs, including feed and plant protections products, and how he plans to ensure that some sort of cross-border movement for seasonal workers is allowed during the ongoing harvest season.

WHEN: Wednesday, 15 April, from 15.00

WHERE: Altiero Spinelli building in Brussels, room 5G3

Members of the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee will be able to participate remotely – they can ask for the floor and intervene. Committee Chair Norbert Lins (EPP, DE) and Commissioner Wojciechowski will participate remotely.

The meeting will be web-streamed here.

Background

In two separate letters addressed on 23 March to Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski and to Croatia’s Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković, Agriculture Committee Chair Norbert Lins urgently called for further action to help EU farmers and to avoid a disruption in food supply.

A first discussion of the EU’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak with Commissioner Wojciechowski already took place on 30 March during the meeting of coordinators of political groups in the Agriculture Committee.

Information to the media

Journalists are advised not to attend in person unless absolutely necessary. If you do, you are requested to respect the standard recommended guidelines on social distancing and hygiene. Please refrain from coming to EP premises if you present any symptoms of a respiratory infection, if you have knowingly been in contact with an infected person in the last 14 days or if you have been to regions with very high transmission rates.

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ECB supports macroprudential policy actions taken in response to coronavirus outbreak

PRESS RELEASE

15 April 2020

ECB supports the swift action taken by euro area macroprudential authorities to address the financial sector impact of the coronavirus outbreak by releasing or reducing capital buffers
Macroprudential measures will free up more than €20 billion of bank capital to absorb losses and support lending
Measures complement and reinforce microprudential measures taken by ECB

The European Central Bank (ECB) supports the measures taken by euro area macroprudential authorities to address the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak on the financial sector. The ECB has assessed the notifications submitted by national macroprudential authorities for each proposed measure provided for in the Capital Requirements Regulation and Directive and has issued a non-objection decision, thereby endorsing the measures taken to reduce capital requirements, including the countercyclical capital buffer.

The measures announced by national macroprudential authorities since 11 March 2020 will free up more than €20 billion of Common Equity Tier 1 capital held by euro area banks. They include releases or reductions of the countercyclical capital buffer, systemic risk buffer and buffers for other systemically important institutions. In addition, some authorities have postponed or revoked earlier announced measures to avoid placing pressure on banks to accumulate capital buffers in a downturn.

These macroprudential actions complement and reinforce the measures announced by ECB Banking Supervision since 12 March 2020.

The ECB, in the exercise of the macroprudential tasks conferred by the Single Supervisory Mechanism Regulation^[1], is responsible for assessing macroprudential measures considered by national authorities in the countries subject to ECB Banking Supervision. Moreover, the ECB has the power to apply, when necessary, higher requirements or more stringent measures than those adopted nationally to address risks to financial stability.

The ECB has today published an overview of the macroprudential measures taken by euro area authorities (including central banks and banking supervisors) in response to the coronavirus outbreak and their impact on banks’ regulatory capital.

For media queries, please contact William Lelieveldt, tel.: +49 69 1344 7316.

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COVID-19 outbreak: Council approves financial assistance for EU fishermen

EU ambassadors today agreed the Council’s position on a proposal to help tackle the negative impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the fishery and aquaculture sector. The proposal will amend the regulation on the European maritime and fisheries fund (EMFF) and the regulation on the common market organisation (CMO).

We have to ensure that the current crisis does not cause irreparable damage to communities where fishery and aquaculture are the main economic activities. The proposal endorsed today will provide financial support to EU fishermen and aquaculture farmers to help them overcome the economic challenges caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Marija Vučković, minister for Agriculture of Croatia

The proposal introduces the following specific measures:

support in relation to the temporary cessation of fishing activities with a maximum co-financing rate of 75 % of eligible public expenditure
support in relation to the temporary suspension or reduction of aquaculture production and sales
support to producer organisations and associations of producer organisations for the storage of fishery and aquaculture products
increasing the quantities eligible for storage aid to 25 % of the annual quantities of the products concerned

The Council position agreed today adds the following amendments to the proposal:

inclusion of fishermen on foot (mostly women) as eligible for support in case of temporary cessation
derogation for temporary cessation for new vessels
flexibility in order to use 10% of the budgetary funds allocated to Union Priority 3
granting working capital and compensating the reduction of sales and additional storage costs for aquaculture farmers

The specific EMFF measures in the proposal are complemented by an amendment to the CMO regulation which makes possible the resort to the storage mechanism if member states have not set and published trigger prices, and allows aquaculture producer organisations to benefit from the storage mechanism. The proposal also provides for expenditure for the operations supported under these measures to be eligible as of 1 February 2020.

Background

The regulation on the EMFF currently in force was adopted in 2014 in order to support sustainable and competitive fisheries and aquaculture, but it does not provide for the sort of support which is needed to overcome the consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak. The Commission adopted its proposal amending the 2014 regulation on 2 April 2020.

Next steps

The presidency of the Council will now inform the European Parliament that should it adopt its position in the form set out in the text agreed by the Council, the Council will approve the European Parliament’s position and the act shall be adopted in the wording which corresponds to the European Parliament’s position. The presidency will also ask the European Parliament to use the urgent procedure.