Croatia's EU Presidency adapted quickly to situation caused by coronavirus pandemic

Croatia's EU Presidency, which closes at the end of June, responded very quickly and adapted to extraordinary circumstances caused by the coronavirus pandemic, a Foreign Ministry state secretary said on Wednesday.

"A situation like this had not occurred since World War II, but we got our bearings very quickly, organised informal video-conferences at the ministerial level, the Council functioned, and I regularly attended all plenaries of the European Parliament, except for two cases when I submitted a report in writing," State Secretary Nikolina Brnjac said ahead of an EP plenary which started on Wednesday afternoon.

This is the last EP plenary during Croatia's EU presidency. Brnjac is Minister Delegate in charge of the Croatian Presidency's relations with the EP, where she represented the Council.

Brnjac underlined the prompt response of the EU Presidency when an emergency aid package to alleviate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the business sector and health systems was agreed to at the European Commission's proposal.

The package includes a credit line of the European Stabilisation Mechanism, a guarantee fund of the European Investment Bank and the EC's SURE job-keeping programme, worth €540 billion and agreed in April.

Brnjac said that she expected member-states to reach agreement by the end of Croatia's presidency on a joint position on the Conference on the Future of Europe.

The conference should have been launched on Europe Day, May 9, but was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The European Parliament has already voted its position on the matter and now a decision by the Council is pending, after which the two positions should be harmonised to launch the conference.

Text: Hina

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