The Secretary for Foreign Action and the European Union, @elinebreda participates in the debate "The future of the European Union: should we start anew?" organised by @Catalonia_DE and The Diplomatic Weekly.

"We hear a lot of talk about the 'new normality' and 'post-COVID-EU'. But, in many cases, rather than new elements, isn’t #COVID19 accelerating, deepening, or attracting more attention to problems and trends we already knew about?" states @elinebreda at the #FutureofEU debate

@elinebreda explains that the @catalangov adopted its #EuropePlan as a result of an ambitious participatory process "which allowed us to gather the views of Catalan civil society and public administration, and translate them into 119 proposals and a shared vision for the EU"

Secretary @elinebreda highlights that "many of the potential solutions we identified through the consultations to build the #EuropePlan are still fully applicable to the current context, because many of those challenges were already there, before #COVID19 hit us" #FutureofEU

“The initial reactions to tackle the pandemic have shown us a more divided Europe, with Member States acting on their own rather than as partners facing one, same threat”, recalls @elinebreda at the #FutureofEU debate

@elinebreda states: "Conversations on Corona-bonds “have reopened -rather than create- the divide between wealthiest Member States and their partners”.

“We shouldn't ignore we are all bound together by the single market, trade flows, and the shifts in the global supply chain”

"Our economic model is both environmentally unsustainable as well as unjustifiably blind to the needs of people", points out @elinebreda

In this sense, @catalangov #EuropePlan proposes to implement a universal European health coverage system and a guaranteed minimum income

The pandemic has also raised some concerns on its impact on fundamental rights and freedoms.
"We were already painfully aware -before #COVID19- that Member States no longer shared the same set of values upon which the EU was built", says @elinebreda at #TheFutureofEU debate

@elinebreda: "the situation requires a new sense of direction for European society, as well as the political will to take concrete steps"

"The @catalangov believes three notions must be our compass moving forward: sustainability, democracy and further European integration"

"In times of fake news, we cannot afford fake policies, nor tokenistic consultations, as this will only deepen citizens’ disaffection and distrust", says @elinebreda

"The Conference on the Future of Europe is a perfect opportunity to build a new relationship with citizens"

@elinebreda: "Positive change must not be taken for granted, and the EU has become too good at weathering crises rather than addressing them"

"We can’t move forward with a few cosmetic changes now. It is our responsibility to actively engage in shaping the post-COVID world"

"Catalonia is committed to an European approach based on solidarity, co-responsibility and subsidiarity. The measures taken to tackle today’s crisis shall set a solid basis for a better Europe tomorrow" concludes @elinebreda
at the #FutureofEU debate organised by @Catalonia_DE

Find the main quotes by @elinebreda, @VolkerTreier, @AKulitz and @ulrikeguerot at the #FutureofEU debate on this thread by @Catalonia_DE https://twitter.com/Catalonia_DE/status/1265543740246102017