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An Taoiseach to discuss Covid-19 with EU Partners

An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar will today take part in a European Council meeting with fellow EU Leaders on Covid-19.

This is the fourth such meeting to take place during the Covid-19 Emergency and will be held in the form of a video conference.

The Taoiseach is keen to discuss the effectiveness of steps taken in different countries to mitigate the health, social and economic impacts of Covid-19.

He will call for a much stronger response from the EU to the economic impact of Covid-19 including significantly more financial assistance for member States. This could involve some form of mutual sharing of debt across the EU designed specifically to deal with the impact of Covid-19.

Leaders are expected to endorse the recent package of economic support measures – worth up to €540 billion – recently agreed by the Eurogroup of Finance Ministers, and call for it to be made operational as quickly as possible.

Speaking in advance of the meeting, the Taoiseach said: “As well as discussing the immediate impact of Covid-19 on health and human life on all our countries, I am keen to discuss options for the medium-term, including how we revitalise the EU economy, and ensure that the EU is better equipped to deal with Emergencies like this in the future.”

Leaders will also discuss the possibility of a shared approach to the phased lifting of containment measures - when appropriate.