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European Union supports to deal with coronavirus pandemic are not nearly enough for what is required, Fianna Fail leader Michel Martin has warned.

Other than the outbreak of a war there has never before been such a dramatic and rapid public health and economic shock, he said.

Like other EU countries Ireland does not yet really know the scale of the recovery challenge we face.

If the member states of the union continue to block measures to develop new direct funding mechanisms, then the unions contribution will continue to be economically marginal.

During a debate on the EU response to the pandemic, he warned that the European Central Bank, the one institution willing to act with true urgency and ambition, is under assault and its powers could be affected by a remarkable judgment from the German constitutional court.

Earlier Taoiseach Leo Varadkar praised EU agreement on an aid package of measures worth 500 billion for member states but warned these are all loans and guarantees and are not grants and that borrowed money must be paid back.

He said the Government favoured the use of shared managing of debt, the use of coronabonds but said it would have taken a long time to agree such a structure and might have required referendums in a number of countries, including Ireland.

He said the three measures in the half a trillion euro package were a historic-level deployment of resources to respond to an emergency of unprecedented levels.

They were a much greater and more appropriate response from the European Union that we saw during the financial crisis ten or 12 years ago when the European Union acted in a way that was too little and too late.

Mr Varadkar said the coronavirus crisis had resulted in deep, sharp economic and social impacts and in the early stages the EU response was poorly co-ordinated.

But the measures agreed included the easing of state aid rules but he warned that members states should not use this to give unfair advantage to their companies competing against companies in other EU member states. This would be closely monitored he said.

Sinn Fin leader Mary Lou McDonald warned against a return to austerity as she reminded the Dil that the EU was no great friend to Ireland or our people and there are huge concerns now among workers and families that there could be a re-run of that scenario.

Ms McDonald warned that following the pandemic we cannot perpetuate an economic system of winners and losers.

Green Party TD Roderic OGorman said Ireland would not be going it alone on a target of reducing carbon emissions by 7 per cent a year. It was part of an EU response to signing up to Paris Accord.

Labour TD Duncan Smith said the EU funds must include grants as well as loans. We need the fund to be financed at EU-level, not by piling on unsustainable debt onto member states already over-stretched national debts.

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EU aid of 500bn are loans and must be paid back, says Taoiseach - The Irish Times

Times of crisis can be formative. As the European Union grapples with how to respond to the worst pandemic and economic crisis in a century, it is fuelling debate about what the bloc should be, and even about the future of globalisation and capitalism itself.

Next Thursday, when the leaders of the 27 member states gather over video conference, they will be split according to whether they want a pared-back EU that is primarily an economic and trade arrangement, or a better-funded bloc that smooths economic inequalities between members and promotes European interests in the wider world.

We are at a moment of truth, which is to decide whether the European Union is a political project or just a market project. I think its a political project, French president Emmanuel Macron said in an interview with the Financial Times, in which he said agreeing jointly-backed debt was essential to prevent the rise of populists across the Mediterranean.

We need financial transfers and solidarity, if only so that Europe holds on, he said.

Ireland, Italy, Spain, France and four other countries have backed the appeal for shared debt, arguing it is a structural shift appropriate to the scale of the challenges posed by the pandemic. But a block of northern states have ruled out the idea.

Italy and the Netherlands represent the two poles of the debate. The gulf in views in each country shows how euroscepticism has taken on different forms across the EU, even as it grew in reaction to old standoffs and worked its way into the heart of domestic politics.

In the Netherlands, a storied euro-critical streak has long favoured a cheaper and less integrated EU where every state must strictly follow spending rules.

According to this view, Dutch taxpayers paid the price for the profligacy of Mediterranean states through the bailouts of the euro zone debt crisis of the 2010s, and granting any extra cent to the EU budget is a domestic political embarrassment.

In Italy, eurocritical sentiment demands an EU of greater largesse. Disillusionment with the bloc is driven by a sense of abandonment, a belief that EU help has been insufficient, and by old bitterness over years of austerity and stagnant growth due to a combination of domestic problems, old debt obligations, and EU spending restraints.

The campaign for joint debt received a boost on Friday when the European Parliament voted with a large majority in favour of recovery bonds in a motion backed by the chambers main political groups.

Another idea advocated by MEPs from Macrons Renew Europe group promotes a grand bargain in which the European Commission would borrow directly from markets, and be given the power to directly repay it by raising money by taxation of things like plastic.

But the debate provoked by the crisis goes beyond how to fund spending, extending to questioning the current model of capitalism itself. According to a manifesto published by 170 Dutch scientists, it is the way economic growth is measured that should be altered, to discount fossil fuel industries and incentivise spending on public transport, education, and health systems.

Macron declared the crisis will change the nature of globalisation.

Particularly in recent years it increased inequalities in developed countries. And it was clear that this kind of globalisation was reaching the end of its cycle, it was undermining democracy, he said.

How will the debate on the future of the EU be resolved?

All eyes are turned to the heavyweight who is often the last to lay her cards on the table: German chancellor Angela Merkel, a cautious political operator known for making bounds of leadership in the past. Many believe that if Merkel believes the European project is at stake, she will act.

The former Italian prime minister Enrico Letta has sounded the alarm. There is a mortal risk for the European Union and we have to act to avoid this mortal risk, Letta told a briefing of the Institute of International and European Affairs. I think the last chance is next Thursday, the European Council next week.

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EU at moment of truth after crisis divisions - The Irish Times

China and the European Union are pushing President TrumpDonald John TrumpMichael Cohen to be released early from prison amid coronavirus pandemic: report Biden assembling White House transition team Top Republicans call on Trump to fund WHO pending director-general's resignation MORE to restore funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) after he announced late Tuesday that financial support would be halted pending a review of its response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Chinese and European Union officials condemned the presidents decision tohalt U.S. funding, which supported about 15 percent of WHOs 2019 budget, amounting to more than $400 million, Reuters reported.

When asked whether China would fill the U.S.s gaps in funding, foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijiansaid that Beijing will look into relevant issues according to the needs of the situation, according to the news service.

Zhao reportedly added that the pandemic was at a vital point and the U.S.s lack of fundingwould affect worldwide efforts to fight coronavirus.

The European Unions foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, joined the criticism, callingTrump's decisionunjustified.

Deeply regret U.S. decision to suspend funding to @WHO. There is no reason justifying this move at a moment when their efforts are needed more than ever, Borrell tweeted. Only by joining forces we can overcome this crisis that knows no borders.

Deeply regret US decision to suspend funding to @WHO. There is no reason justifying this move at a moment when their efforts are needed more than ever to help contain & mitigate the #coronavirus pandemic. Only by joining forces we can overcome this crisis that knows no borders.

Trump announced that the U.S. would stop funding WHO at his Tuesday press briefing until a review of the global health organizations management of the coronavirus pandemic is undertaken.

The reality is that the WHO failed to adequately obtain, vet and share information in a timely and transparent fashion, the president said.

Democrats and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterresalso blasted Trumps decision, saying it will hurt the worlds responseto the ongoing pandemic, in whichnearly 2 million peopleworldwide have been infected and at least 127,590 have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

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China, EU push Trump to restore WHO funding | TheHill - The Hill

BRUSSELS/KINSHASA/DAKAR, 12April 2020 - A UNICEF shipment of 63 cubic metres of vital health supplies landed yesterdayin Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on a Belgian repatriation flight, co-financed by the European Union (EU).

The shipment includes oxygen concentrators, basic surgical equipment, stethoscopes, antibiotics, nutrition items, kits for midwives and items for maternal and neonatal health. The supplies will be distributed to health centres, where they are urgently needed to respond to health epidemics such as measles, cholera and malaria as well as the coronavirus. The supplies will support UNICEFs humanitarian work for children and families in DRC, as well as provide support to the preventive efforts to the coronavirus pandemic in coordination with the wider UN response.

This an excellent example of global solidarity in these difficult times and a way to maximise our resources. At the time when the EU is working hard in getting EU citizens back from across the world, we are glad that these flights can be also be used to support our humanitarian partners such as UNICEF, said EU Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenari.

We are grateful for the support from the European Union and Belgium, said Director of UNICEF Supply Division, Etleva Kadilli. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, it has remained our priority to ensure that life-saving supplies continue to reach the most vulnerable children, particularly those affected by emergencies.

As cases of COVID-19 infections in DRC rise and the situation is becoming more critical every day, medical supplies are urgently needed to support the countrys already overburdened health system to fight against COVID-19 and other health epidemics which are killing thousands of thousands of children every year, said Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF Representative in the DRC.

UNICEF DRC coronavirus response is currently focused on the city of Kinshasa which is the epicentre of the coronavirus epidemic in the DRC at this time. UNICEF is closely following and responding to the development of the outbreak in the country with a particular focus on health centres and maternity wards, therapeutic nutrition centres, IDP settlements, coronavirus treatment centres, entry points as well as gathering points such as transit and referral centres, temporary hosting structures or therapeutic feeding centres and in the community.

In the DRC, the EUs humanitarian aid supports the Ebola response in North Kivu and Ituri provinces, the nutritional surveillance of children and mothers, implements programmes to fight Cholera and building resilience after floods and natural disasters.

The flight to Kinshasa wasco-financed by the EU at 75% via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. Belgium has activated this mechanism for consular assistance to repatriate Belgian and other EU citizens from DRC.

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The European Union and Belgium support UNICEF in shipping vital supplies to the Democratic Republic of the Congo - UNICEF

The EU funds should directly support healthcare systems in EU member states in their fight against the coronavirus pandemic. The initiative should allow the EU to buy urgent medical supplies, such as masks and respiratory equipment, transport medical equipment and patients in cross-border regions, finance the recruitment of additional healthcare professionals to be deployed to hotspots across the European Union, as well as helping member states to construct mobile field hospitals.

A total of 3.08 billion from the EU budget will be channelled mainly through the Emergency Support Instrument (2.7 billion) and through rescEU (380 million).

The package includes additional funds to finance repatriation flights (45 million) under EU Civil Protection Mechanism to reunite families stranded in third countries, to provide more resources for the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (3.6 million), but also to help Greece deal with increased migratory pressures (350 million), and to support Albania's post-earthquake reconstruction (100 million).

Budget Committee MEPs already called in March for available financial means remaining in the 2020 budget to be mobilised.

Vote results for the package:

Background

Recently, the Commission proposed two Draft Amending Budgets (DAB 1/2020 and 2/2020) as part of a comprehensive set of measures to provide support in the fight against the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Emergency Support Instrument (ESI) was created in 2016 to deal with the massive influx of refugees in Greece.

The rescEU medical capacity stock will be hosted by one or several member states. The hosting state will be responsible for procuring the equipment. The Commission will finance 100% of the medical supplies. The Emergency Response Coordination Centre will manage the distribution of the equipment to ensure it goes where it is needed most.

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COVID-19: MEPs free up over 3 billion to support EU healthcare sector | News - EU News