If you have trouble reading this e-mail read the online version.

ISSN : 2443-8243

	EC Report

In this issue - 30 March 2020
Recent and Upcoming Events EU Top News		Economic Governance

| Facebook | Twitter

Recent and Upcoming Events

COVID19 in Malta - Multilingual update

To help the communities of expats living in Malta, in this section, we will publish a summary of the daily Corona Virus news on the island. Check this page daily to keep up to date!

EU Top News

Commission boosts budget for repatriation flights and rescEU stockpile

On 27 March, the European Commission proposed to make €75 million from the EU budget available to help Member States repatriate EU nationals and to increase the budget of the RescEU medical stockpile.

Speech by President von der Leyen at the European Parliament Plenary on the European coordinated response to the COVID-19 outbreak

Speech delivered on Thursday 26 March by President von der Leyen at the European Parliament Plenary on the European coordinated response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Coronavirus: Commission bid to ensure supply of personal protective equipment for the EU proves successful

The joint procurement of personal protective equipment launched by the European Commission to address the coronavirus crisis has proven successful.

Coronavirus: Commission presents practical guidance to ensure continuous flow of goods across EU via green lanes

On 23 March, the Commission issued new practical advice on how to implement its Guidelines for border management, in order to keep freight moving across the EU during the current pandemic. To ensure that EU-wide supply chains continue to operate, Member States are requested to designate, without delay, all the relevant internal border-crossing points on the trans-European transport network (TEN-T) as ‘green lane' border crossings. The green lane border crossings should be open to all freight vehicles, whatever goods they are carrying. Crossing the border, including any checks and health screening, should not take more than 15 minutes.

Economic Governance

Coronavirus: Commission proposes to activate fiscal framework's general escape clause to respond to pandemic

On 20 March, the Commission proposed the activation of the general escape clause of the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) as part of its strategy to respond quickly, forcefully and in a coordinated manner to the coronavirus pandemic. Once endorsed by the Council, it will allow Member States to undertake measures to deal adequately with the crisis, while departing from the budgetary requirements that would normally apply under the European fiscal framework.

State aid: Commission adopts Temporary Framework to enable Member States to further support the economy in the COVID-19 outbreak

The European Commission has adopted a Temporary Framework to enable Member States to use the full flexibility foreseen under State aid rules to support the economy in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak. Together with many other support measures that can be used by Member States under the existing State aid rules, the Temporary Framework enables Member States to ensure that sufficient liquidity remains available to businesses of all types and to preserve the continuity of economic activity during and after the COVID-19 outbreak.

ECB announces €750 billion Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP)

On 18 March, the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) decided to launch a new temporary asset purchase programme of private and public sector securities to counter the serious risks to the monetary policy transmission mechanism and the outlook for the euro area posed by the outbreak and escalating diffusion of the coronavirus, COVID-19.

This is the Newsletter of the Representation of the European Commission in Malta.

If this Newsletter was forwarded to you and you would like to receive it directly you can subscribe here.

You can unsubscribe from this newsletter from your profile or by contacting us at this address: comm-rep-mt@ec.europa.eu