This is the leitmotif of the pan-European forward-looking crisis management that will shape the German EU Council Presidency.Īt the beginning of the pandemic, solidarity had to be put into action very quickly, for example when it came to supplying medical equipment to badly affected European partners, taking in seriously ill patients from these countries and bringing citizens of other European countries back from abroad together with many of our own German citizens in an unprecedented repatriation programme.īut of course much more is needed for a sustainable economic recovery which also safeguards convergence and cohesion. If we are to fulfil this aspiration, we must in my opinion be guided by one leitmotif: European cohesion and solidarity – especially in this pandemic. And conversely, it is good for Europe if Germany is economically and politically strong.ĭespite all the uncertainties we face, one thing is already clear to me: Europe can emerge stronger from the crisis than it entered it. After all, we know that Germany will only fare well in the long term if Europe fares well. We must help each other wherever possible. The virus knows no borders, and so our response as the European Union must not stop at national borders. On the other hand, in this crisis, it is vitally important for the European family of states to become even more cohesive. On the one hand, we are all expected to adhere to rules restricting contact and imposing a minimum distance to be maintained from relatives and friends, acquaintances and colleagues, in other words from everybody outside our households, thus enabling us to look out for others by keeping our distance.
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Considering how to analyse and categorise these changes, as you are doing at today’s event, is important not least because we are faced with conflicting demands to which political answers are needed in word and in deed. I would like to thank the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung for inviting me to this event, which is an opportunity to consider the import of these truly transformative developments in the field of foreign and security policy in particular. The COVID‑19 pandemic reveals how fundamental radical shifts cause us to take decisions with very long‑term consequences in a relatively short period of time. However, we also want to retain our original priorities and continue to address the issues that will define our future, in particular how to rebuild our economy in a climate-neutral way, how to advance the digital transformation and how to strengthen Europe’s role as an anchor of stability in the world. Crisis management has become a new priority. The COVID‑19 pandemic has turned our world upside down – and with it the plans for the German EU Council Presidency, which we will assume for six months on 1 July. This virus is and will remain an affront to democracy. These decisions were among the most difficult I have taken in my entire time as Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. Just a few weeks ago, it seemed inconceivable that within a matter of days liberal democracies would have to adopt comprehensive measures including travel and contact restrictions, which in this country, too, constitute the most egregious curtailment of citizens’ civil liberties since the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany. It went without saying that EU citizens travelled throughout the Schengen area, whether for business or private purposes, without border controls and without face masks. Germany was heading for its sixth year with a balanced federal budget. Just a few weeks ago, the euro area member states were on a sound economic growth course.
A new decade had just begun, and such a milestone always brings hope of greater peace, stability and prosperity in the world. When the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung planned today’s event, the world was still a different place. Wherever you are – at the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung or following us on live stream,