# EESC באקומט קאמיסיע'ס פארשלאגן צו ענדערן געזעץ צו בעסער קעמפן # COVID-19 קריזיס

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has adopted four position papers in which it has thrown its support behind the Commission's proposals to amend several EU regulations as part of its efforts to provide a timely and efficient response to the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the papers, sent to the European Parliament ahead of its extraordinary session on 16 and 17 April, the EESC is urging the Council and the Parliament to approve the proposals on:

- allowing exceptional flexibility in the use of the European Structural and Investment Funds;

- securing continued protection for Europe's most deprived citizens;

- mitigating the pandemic's impact on the fisheries and aquaculture sector, and

- deferring the application dates of some provisions of the regulation on medical devices.

COVID-19: European Structural and Investment Funds – Exceptional flexibility (ECO/517, rapporteur: Alberto Mazzola – Employers' Group, IT)

אַדווערטייזמאַנט

The EESC welcomes the proposal to provide exceptional flexibility for the use of the European Structural and Investment Funds in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, and calls for it to be adopted swiftly with the greatest possible flexibility.

All possible administrative burdens should be eliminated, and social partners and relevant civil society organisations more actively involved, in order to ensure effective crisis management. To overcome the socio-economic effects of the pandemic, the European Commission should propose an EU recovery plan commensurate with needs and in line with the EU's priorities. This plan should make use of all the programmes under a revised MFF 2021-2027, new innovative financial tools and investments.

Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD)/COVID-19 Crisis (SOC/651, rapporteur: Petru Sorin Dandea – Workers' Group, RO)

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) gave its backing to the Commission's proposal to amend the regulation governing the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD) in a bid to ensure that Europe's most vulnerable citizens remain supported during the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a position paper adopted on 15 April, the EESC says it is in favour of introducing specific measures aimed at protecting the most deprived from the disease and at ensuring that FEAD assistance still reaches them despite the crisis.

The measures include reducing the administrative burden to enable EU countries to act more quickly, allowing the authorities to use electronic vouchers to deliver food aid and basic material assistance, and covering the cost of protective equipment for those delivering it.

Specific measures to mitigate the impact on the fisheries and aquaculture sector of the COVID-19 outbreak (NAT/783, rapporteur: Gabriel SARRÓ IPARRAGUIRRE – Diversity Europe Group, ES)

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has adopted a position paper calling for additional measures to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the fisheries and aquaculture sector.

This crisis is having a striking impact on EU fisheries, as the major fish sales channels have been closed: sales outlets, markets, shops, restaurants and hotels. As demand abruptly dropped, the price of the fish fell to half or less of the value at which it was traded before. The activities in this sector are now loss-making as a result.

In this position paper, the EESC welcomes the Commission's proposal to amend the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) Regulation and the Common Market Organisation (CMO) Regulation and appreciates the speed of its response. However, the Committee believes that certain additional measures should be adopted to protect this much-weakened sector with unprecedented solidarity.

Medical devices/Dates of application (INT/907, rapporteur: Renate HEINISCH, Diversity Europe Group, DE)

The EESC has endorsed the European Commission’s proposal to postpone by a full year the implementation of several provisions of the new regulation on medical devices (Regulation (EU) 2017/745 of 5 April 2017) which were to come into effect in May 2020.

The move is intended to ease the regulatory burden on Member States grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic, which is putting a huge strain on their resources.

The proposal also allows EU-wide exceptions to the normal conformity assessment procedures in order to address potential shortages of vitally important medical equipment such as Europe is experiencing at the moment.

In a position paper adopted on 15 April, the EESC agreed that the postponement was both appropriate and necessary under the circumstances.

שער דעם אַרטיקל: