Tonight is the 4th Saturday night in #Brussels since bars and restaurants were closed down (and the 3rd since the stay-at-home order began).

This week we may get a coordinated EU #ExitStrategy for ending these #COVID19 #lockdowns in Europe.

But the end won’t come any time soon

The Commission's #CoronaVirus response team met this morning to discuss EU #Lockdown #ExitStrategy. No sign that a strategy is coming any time soon.

"At the moment we’re in the midst of the emergency, the focus of our work is to ensure that countries can fight it" says a spox

"What we need are scientific criteria that are completely objective, that everybody can rely on, but also take into account the fact that countries at any given point in time will not find themselves in the same phase of the health emergency," says the spokeperson.

We're seeing the same reticence to come out with an #ExitStrategy in the UK. Govs don't want to touch this

Businesses are desperate for indication of when restrictions will start to be relaxed, but governments don't want to even suggest a timeline because things are so uncertain

But by delaying the @EU_Commission risks being preempted by member states.

@SebastianKurz just announced an #ExitStrategy for #Austria. He's not waiting for the EU.

April 14th: small shops can reopen
May 1st: All shops can reopen
People must wear masks in stores and transport

The Commission's failure to coordinate EU #lockdowns in the early panic phase of #CoronaVirus was understandable.

But if they fail to coordinate an EU #ExitStrategy, after being asked to do so by national leaders *10 days ago*, it would be unforgivable.

What's the hold-up?

The Commission keeps saying it's too early to exit, we're still in the health crisis phase.

But nobody is asking them to end lockdowns now. They're asking for a long-term plan, some kind of indication of what comes next.

Their lack of urgency in developing this is astounding.