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The Taoiseach has said support for coronabonds among EU leaders was not unanimous.<\/p>\nThe Taoiseach has said support for coronabonds among EU leaders was not unanimous.<\/p>\n
Leo Varadkar took part in a European Council meeting on the pandemic on Wednesday morning as EU leaders have convened to discuss the crisis.<\/p>\n
Mr Varadkar said they discussed mutualization of debt, known as coronabonds, but there was not unanimous support for it.<\/p>\n
Member states remain divided over how the fund will work, with an impasse over calls by some of the worst-hit countries for mutual sharing of the debt incurred battling Covid-19.<\/p>\n
Speaking in the D\u00e1il on Wednesday, he said: \u201cThe idea was to take a shared approach to managing debt arising solely from this crisis.<\/p>\n
\u201cSuch an approach would have required a legal underpinning not currently provided for in the EU treaties.<\/p>\n
\u201cI accept that it would have take a long time to agree this, even more time if it were to be approved by all EU member states and even in ours where it would require a referendum.<\/p>\n
“In the absence of unanimous support for that approach, we agreed that alternative solutions for a recovery fund should be developed.”<\/p>\n
He said the European Commission is building a stockpile of medical equipment to be distributed to member states.<\/p>\n
\u201cI welcome that the European Commission is building a strategic stockpile of equipment from which member states will be able to draw in future and indeed, the near present.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is more to do and we need to examine how to make the EU more resilient and responsive as we chart our way through this crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the pandemic has strained the EU single market.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have seen huge stresses on the single market, as some internal borders close to people, goods and services albeit temporarily.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs predicted, countries that closed their borders and introduced export bans had to reverse them very quickly when they learned that the benefits were less than the costs.<\/p>\n
\u201cA fully functioning single market and free trade beyond our borders will be necessary as we recover from the huge recession induced by Covid-19.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fianna F\u00e1il leader Micheal Martin said the failure of EU leaders to agree a radical response to Covid-19 is of \u201cgrave concern\u201d.<\/p>\n
He told the D\u00e1il: \u201cThe failure of EU leaders participating in the EU council to agree a radical response to this emergency should be of grave concern to everyone.<\/p>\n
\u201cMeasures that have been announced are welcome but they go nowhere near the scale and action that Europe needs if it is to recover quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n