In the debate raised in the European Union on the measures to be taken in the face of the economic and social crisis created by the COVID-19, the standpoint adopted by the PCE is clear: “We need the approval of a monumental European aid plan for the popular sectors, the most vulnerable ones in this situation." This is what the Political Commission concluded, days before the current deadlock due to the refusal of Germany and the Netherlands to adopt measures "other than bailouts and cuts."
"This situation demands attending to the needs of the population," defends the Communist Party of Spain, pointing to the need to expand the measures that have already been announced. In this sense, it considers that the stimuli and aid from the European Union, the purchase of assets and national debt decided by the European Central Bank, will not by itself resolve the financing needs. This is “a strategy of massive support for banks, which doesn’t previously guarantee tax packages that strengthen the public sector.”
The PCE calls for a plan that avoids the proliferation of layoffs in companies, and points out that most of the public resources mobilized against the pandemic should be allocated to finance companies and guarantee credits in the face of the inevitable standstill of productive sectors. This should serve to start a change in the social and economic model in the face of the failure of the current one, as proved during the last capitalist crisis and now again against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Support for the statements of the Portuguese Prime Minister
The General Secretary of the PCE and co-spokesperson for Unidas Podemos in the Spanish Congress, Enrique Santiago, has publicly shown his support for the latest speech made by Antonio Costa, Portugal’s Prime Minister. He describes the statements in the framework of the EU as "disgusting", referring to the position of Germany and France. "We are not going to listen to a Dutch Finance Minister like we did in 2008, 2009, 2010 and so on."
In social networks, Santiago thanked Portugal for "bringing good sense against the unsupportive attitude of the Netherlands" after the failure of the European summit, warning that "the pandemic knows no nationalities."
