During the plenary session to coordinate the EU’s action to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences in the European Parliament in Brussels (16 April 2020), Opening statement by Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission. The following transcription is the result of an automatic process. Check Against delivery.

Brussels

debate

plenary session

VON DER LEYEN, Ursula (DE, EC)

Coronavirus outbreak (T)

EU coordinated action to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences: Opening statement by Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission

SOUNDBITE (Italian), David SASSOLI, EP President, giving the floor the Ursula von der LEYEN

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, Dear President. Dear President of Parliament. President of Council. Ladies and gentlemen, Members of Parliament. It's not easy to talk about the suffering europe is going through the suffering of the world at The moment when I stand that there are many victims, victims, and we are praying for the families in mourning.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, We promise we will relate their stories to remember them, to remember their lives. And we will remember each and every one of them. We remember Julie. A young Frenchwoman. She had a whole life ahead of her and Jan, a Czech historian who had always fought for his values, or even Gino, the Italian doctor that come back out of retirement to save other people's lives.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, We will remember these unbelievable gestures. Susanna, for example, she left her ventilator to young people here in Belgium and France as well, saying goodbye to his brother through a window in a hospital in Ireland.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, We ll remember the Polish mother who won't see her baby grow up. These young Spanish footballers who won't be able to become football players will never forget them. Mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, young people, elderly people in the north, in the south and east. In the west. Friends, colleagues. Neighbours. Strangers.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, People who have things to say and want to see. Things. Those that are still crying. On the shoulders of their loved ones. All of these tens of thousands of stories break our heart a little further. But they will Also reinforce our determination that for Europe to do whatever it can to save as many lives as possible.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, You cannot overcome a pandemic of this speed and this scale without the truth. The truth about everything, the numbers, the science, the outlook, but also about our own actions. Yes, it is true that no one was really ready for this. It is also true that too many were not there on time when Italy needed a helping hand at the very beginning. And yes, for that it is right that Europe as a whole offers a heartfelt apology,

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, But saying sorry only counts for something if it changes behaviour. And the truth is, too, that it did not take long before everyone realized that we must protect each other to protect ourselves. And the truth is that Europe has now become the world's beating heart of solidarity. The true Europe is standing up the one that is there for each other when it is needed the most.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, In fact, we have seen every piece of equipment go in every direction across Europe from whoever can spare it to whoever that needs it. This makes me proud to be European. Of course, There are still some who want to point fingers and deflect blame. And there are others who would rather talk like populists than tell unpopular truth.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, To this. I say stop it. Stop and have the courage to tell the truth. Have the courage to stand up for Europe because this union of ours will get us through. And it will be a strong two moral as we make it today. And if you need inspiration, just look at the way the people of Europe are standing together. With empathy, humility and humanity.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, And I pay tribute to all of them, to. The delivery drivers and the food suppliers, the shopkeepers, the factory packers and the balcony clappers. The companies changing that production lines to make the supplies we urgently need.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, I pay tribute to the Portuguese volunteers sewing masks for their neighbours or the seven year old Greek pianist who composed an isolation walls to keep people going

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, Above. All, else, I thank and I pay tribute to our heroes, the medicks, the nurses, the care workers. They are the ones With bruises on their faces and tragic images in their hearts and minds. The ones holding the hands of the sick as softly and as lovingly as the families that cannot be there. They are the ones saving our lives and saving our honour. The ones we must protect so that they can protect us all can now die of constant fear.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, And that's what we're focussing on. That's why we've put forward a supply of medical devices. That's why we're investing together in investing into vaccines that will be key for those who desperately need these devices. We have the best experts in the world. We've brought the best experts throughout Europe together who, by sharing their knowledge, can save lives

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, We can lift VMT And made of medical devices coming in from third countries. And this is a Huge but simple promise for every single euro we make available. We will be using it for every possible way to save lives. And to make sure that European lives are protected.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, That's why we said that for all of the funds currently available, currently available in our budget to use this for this crisis, that's up to three billion euros going directly to where it's needed, new ventilators and new protection equipment, new tests for the most deprived of the weakest, especially for those in the refugee camps.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, That's why we're saying that for each euro that comes from the European structural and Asian funds, too, we will put that into the fund to fight against the coronavirus. These Funds can be sent to the most the regions where they're needed most.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, Co-financing. All of the other conditions will be lifted for the moment. So with this package that this house is going to vote on today, we are now reaching the limits of what we can do People's livelihoods.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, Europe has had economic crisis before, but we have never had an economic shut down like this. Nobody is to blame and everybody will need support. We need unprecedented measures to do this and to make sure our economy is ready to bounce forward as soon as possible. And here again, the truth matters

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, Europe has done more in the last four weeks. Than it did in the first four years in the last crisis. We have made our stated rules more flexible than ever in the last few days alone. We have approved schemes that will provide 1 billion euro to Croatian businesses, 1.2 billion for Greek SMEs or 20 million to Portuguese fishermen.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, There are many more examples I could pick from Latvia and Estonia to Belgium or Sweden. For the first time in our history, we triggered the full flexibility and the Stability and Growth Pact, along with bold measures taken by the European Central Bank. This prevert provides unprecedented fiscal and financial power, and the last week's decision by EU finance ministers mean a further 500 Billion euros will be available to all of those who need it.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, As part of this I urge all member states to make the most of sure the new scheme proposed by the Commission to protect Europeans against the risk of unemployment. It will provide 100 billion to help governments make up the difference. If your employer has reduced your hours or if you're self-employed and need help.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, The beauty of sure is twofold. First, it will help those in need to pay their rent, bills and food and keep other businesses alive in the process. And second, it is the definition of European solidarity. The member state that can will put up guarantees so others can support the hardest hit in their countries.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, As a result of all this action, Europe Collective Europe's collective response is well above 3 trillion euros. This is the most impressive response anywhere in the world, but we know we will need more, a lot more. Because this will be a long haul and the world of tomorrow will look very different than that of yesterday.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, Honourable members, I am convince most that Europe can shape this new world if it works together and rediscovers its pioneering spirit. And for this, I want to cite a sentence from the Entertainer Manifesto written by two of Italy's and Europe's greatest visionaries.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, Ernesto Rossi and Altiero Spinelli, one of our founding fathers. Writing from their prison on a remote island at the height of the war, when all hope of a united Europe seemed lost. They gave us these words of confidence. The moment has arrived in which we must know how to discard all the old burdens, how to be ready for the new world that is coming that will be so different from what we have imagined.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, Dear friends, this moment has arrived. Once again, the moment to put behind us the old divisions, disputes and recriminations to come out of our entrenched positions. The moment to be ready for that new world, to use all the power and our common spirit and the strength of our shared purpose.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, It is the starting point, for this must be making our economies, societies and way of life more sustainable. And resilient. Find the answers in this new world will require courage, trust and solidarity.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, And it Will need mass investment to jumpstart our economies. We need a Marshall Plan for Europe's recovery and it needs to be put in place immediately. There is only one instrument we have that are trusted by all member states, which is already in place that can deliver quickly. It is transparent and it is time tested as an instrument for cohesion. Convergence and investment. And that is the European budget.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, The European budget will be the mother ship of our recovery And That for that reason, the next seven year budget must be different to what we have imagined. Just as Spinellis said,. We will use the power of the whole European budge To leverage the huge amount of investment we need to rebuild the single market after Corona.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, We will frontload it so we can power that investment and those crucial first years of recovery because this crisis is different from any other. We have known it is severely hitting healthy companies because public life has shut down and this is why we will need innovative solutions and more headroom in the MFF.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, It can unlock massive public and private investment. This will kick start our economies and drive our recovery towards a more resilient green and digital Europe. By that, we not only support but reshape our industries and services today towards a new reality. It will mean investing in our digital Technologies, infrastructure and innovation such as 3D printing to help us to be more independent and make the most of the new opportunities.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, And it also means doubling down on our growth strategy by investing in the European Green Deal. As the global risk recovery picks up global warming will not slow down. First mover advantage will count double and finding the right projects to invest in it will be key among more modern and circular economy will make us less dependent and boost our resilience.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, And this is the lesson we need to learn from the crisis. Investing a large scale innovation renewables, clean transport, sustainable food and nature restoration will be even more important than before.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, This is not only good for our economies, it is not only good for our environment, but it will reduce dependencies by shortening and diversifying our supply chains. And we need also to keep another reality in mind. While the crisis is symmetric, recovery is not because not only the virus hits, but also the economic shock.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, And some regions will bounce back and others will have a harder time. And therefore, cohesion and convergence will be more important than ever before. The single market and cohesion policy are the two sides of the same coin. You need both to ensure prosperity across the whole European Union. Honourable members, this is the Europe that I believe can emerge from this crisis. One that does everything it can to protect lives and livelihoods. One that is open to the world but can take care of itself.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, One that is more resilient. Green a digital ad that invests in its future together. This is the path to recovery. It will be a long road and the world will be trying to find its way. The crisis will likely redefine our politics, our geopolitics, and possibly globalization itself. And in this new world, Europe will need to stick together through thick and thin. And as I look around in our union and I see all that humanity and that ingenuity.

SOUNDBITE (Original), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, I know that, We can and we will do just that. Honourable members, they say a strong soul shines bright after every storm. If we all stand up for Europe, today is courage, trust and solidarity. I know that tomorrow Europe's soul will shine brighter than ever before. Long live Europe. Vive L'Europe. Lange lebe Europa