Fórsa chief welcomes €1.85 trillion proposal
by Bernard Harbor and Anna Heverin
 
Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan said “the pandemic has produced a tremendous national effort, led by the health service and our heroic frontline staff, and supported by the wider public service."
Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan said “the pandemic has produced a tremendous national effort, led by the health service and our heroic frontline staff, and supported by the wider public service."

Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan has welcomed a proposed European Commission post-Covid recovery plan, worth €750 billion, which would bring the total EU budget to €1.85 trillion over the next seven years.


In an opinion piece for the Irish Examiner he said the move suggested that the EU was moving away from the austerity of previous years, and towards the ‘social democratic’ policies favoured by trade unions.


And he called on the incoming Irish Government to follow suit and “avoid poor choices that hurt ordinary workers and their families and put the concerns of citizens down the agenda.”


The Commission’s proposed ‘next generation’ budget envisages the EU deploying a blend of spending, grants and borrowing. Support would be available to all EU member states, with most going to those worst affected by the pandemic.


This would include a new ‘recovery and resilience facility,’ worth €560 billion in financial supports for climate action, ‘digital transition,’ and other projects. It also includes almost €10 billion to strengthen health security and prepare for future health crises.


Launching the plan in Brussels on Wednesday (27th May), European Commission president Ursula Von Der Leyden said her proposal would allow Europe to deal with the present crisis and prepare for the future.


But she warned that it required unanimous backing from EU member states. There is resistance from the so-called ‘frugal four’: Austria, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands.


In his Examiner article, which first appeared as a Fórsa blog earlier this week, Kevin Callinan identified a “sharp switch in EU political direction,” notwithstanding the reservations of those four countries.


“Unlike the conditions that prevailed a decade ago, Europe appears to be moving in what might be characterised as a social democratic direction,” he wrote. Kevin said the Commission’s emphasis on health services was also significant.


“The pandemic has produced a tremendous national effort, led by the health service and our heroic frontline staff, and supported by the wider public service. But this can’t conceal the fact that our infection rates, notably among healthcare workers, are poor compared with countries with better health systems.


“The historical underfunding of our public system, coupled with a convoluted model of private provision in acute hospitals and residential and homecare settings, has impaired our ability to maximise a fully coherent and integrated response,” he wrote.

 

 

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