“We need the vaccine and it is essential, but we cannot rely exclusively on it for the solution to the health, economic and social crisis; we need urgent measures "
The PP spokesperson in the European Parliament, Dolors Montserrat, has assured today that the European Union must continue its fight against the coronavirus without this implying renouncing European values.
During the debate on the State of the Union – in which the president of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, explained her political priorities for the coming months – Montserrat assured that "the new reality" caused by the threat of coronavirus "must not mean the renunciation of our European values: freedom, equality, solidarity and well-being".
After noting that the coronavirus "has placed the EU before the greatest challenge of our lives" and that it has caused "unimaginable damage because thousands of families have lost loved ones and millions of people have lost their jobs," Montserrat recalled that the virus "It has also accelerated phenomena that were already taking place and that were undermining the strength of the EU and the future of Europeans."
In this sense, the popular spokesperson has stressed that "we cannot take a single step back in the defense of rights and freedoms."
“Not a step back in the defense of democracy in the face of the authoritarian threat, whether it comes from Belarus, Venezuela or even from within our own societies; not a step back from those retrograde nationalisms and populisms ", he has asked before assuring that" we must make Europe once again a beacon of freedom that illuminates a world that is becoming darker again. "
Dolors Montserrat has also assured that “we cannot exclusively trust the solution to the health, economic and social crisis to the vaccine” against the coronavirus. "We need the vaccine, it is essential and must be accessible to all, but what was lost and destroyed until today will only be recovered if we take urgent measures," he insisted.
Montserrat has also described as "indispensable" the EU Recovery Plan, which has been promoted by the European People's Party, but has recalled that "to be effective we need national governments to do their homework, the Plan must be accompanied by the promoting ambitious national reforms that promote a modern, resilient and competitive economy in the face of climate change and the digital age: that prioritizes job creation as the best social policy; to strengthen health systems; and that it guarantees above all the best education for all our young people ”.
He has also advocated "recovering the spirit of Schengen" to avoid unilateral responses from countries that in recent weeks have caused uncertainty and difficulties for the mobility of Europeans.
“We must rise to the occasion and what all Europeans need. No patient with covid-19 can be left unattended; the economy and employment must recover. Europe cannot afford a lost generation ”, summed up the popular spokesperson.
