Pittella calls on Europe’s northern socialists to finally break their silence

UK AND IRELAND

LONDON

Banks scrap bonus season. A group of the UK’s biggest banks have agreed to scrap dividend payments, with the cash likely to be used during the coronavirus crisis. EURACTIV’s Benjamin Fox reports from London.

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DUBLIN

Union tells staff to stay away. Fórsa, Ireland’s biggest public service union has instructed members to keep away from workplaces for public health reasons unless required to do so by management. EURACTIV’s Samuel Stolton reports.

EUROPE’S SOUTH

MADRID

Spain unveils new relief measures for vulnerable groups. The Spanish government approved on Tuesday (31 March) a fresh package of economic relief measures to mitigate the suspension of non-essential activities enforced as part of the country’s efforts to fight the coronavirus outbreak. “What is approved today is a safety net that protects our society,” Economy Minister Nadia Calviño told a press conference. EURACTIV’s partner EFE has reported.

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LISBON

90% of TAP’s staff temporarily laid off. Portuguese carrier TAP is to temporarily lay off 90% of its employees and reduce the normal working period by 20% for those remaining as the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis have severely hit the company. The airline will only have five flights a week between Wednesday, 1 April and 4 May, between Lisbon and the archipelagos of Madeira and the Azores.

As the number of total COVID-19 infections reached 7,443 with 160 deaths as of Tuesday (31 March), Portugal’s government has asked the European Commission to approve new credit lines worth €7 billion to support companies, while the Portuguese central bank has, again, waived the need for banks to build up counter-cyclical reserves in the second quarter of this year. (Lusa.pt)

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ATHENS

Five northern Greek towns under curfew. The Greek government has decided to put five town in the country’s north on strict lockdown as authorities fear that there is a high risk of the virus spread and therefore controls will be stricter. Read more by EURACTIV’s partner Athens-Macedonian News Agency.

VISEGRAD

PRAGUE

Following Orbán’s steps? In a move that resembles Hungary’s, Defence Minister Lubomír Metnar presented to the government a draft document that could lead to legal changes and give more powers to the government and prime minister in times of crisis, according to a document obtained and published on Tuesday (31 March) by EURACTIV.cz’s media partners, Respekt and Aktuálně.cz.

While Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš claims he didn’t know about the draft and that he “absolutely does not agree” with it as it “will for sure not” be discussed during the state of emergency, the document shows that the PM had asked the defence minister to present the draft. According to the material, in “urgent situations when the parliament is not able to hold a meeting” the government should have powers to declare “a state of emergency” even without the parliament’s consent. (Aneta Zachová | EURACTIV.cz)

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WARSAW

‘Anticrisis shield’ approved. The parliament’s lower chamber, the Sejm, has approvedmeasures known as the “anticrisis shield”, which are supposed to take some of the burden off the shoulders of entrepreneurs. EURACTIV Poland’s Łukasz Gadzała takes a closer look.

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BUDAPEST

Sharing information of the deceased. On Tuesday (31 March), the coronavirus task force shared the age, sex and underlying health conditions of the 16 people who had died from coronavirus “in order to provide credible information to the general public and the press.”

”While we welcome the fact that the information has been published, dead people can be identified based on the list, which is illegal,” said the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU) in a statement. EURACTIV’s Vlagyiszlav Makszimov has more.

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BRATISLAVA

‘Turning’ down the country. One of the options on how to “kill the virus” is to “turn down the country for three weeks”, Prime Minister Igor Matovič (OĽaNO) told a press briefing, adding that to do this there would not only have to be about 150,000 people working to support the state infrastructure but also a common understanding and agreement in society.

The PM, who used an online poll during the election campaign to see whether the public agreed with his political programme’s main points, had suggested that the idea could be surveyed through a poll. (Zuzana Gabrižová | EURACTIV.sk)

NEWS FROM THE BALKANS

SOFIA

Bulgaria’s finances look good. Bulgaria’s state budget does not yet seem seriously affected by the COVID-19 crisis. While the country had reported a budget surplus of €650 million (1% of GDP) by the end of the first quarter, its fiscal reserves amounted to €5.4 billion. Besides, as the Balkan state has been able to maintain a very low state debt in the last 22 years, Bulgaria plans to end the year with a budget deficit of less than 3% of its GDP and to withdraw new government debt of up to €5 billion. (Krassen Nikolov | EURACTIV.bg)

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BUCHAREST

More doctors infected. Romania’s health system, which is already facing problems due to the lack of medical personnel, is further restrained as more and more doctors are becoming infected with the new coronavirus, while others have chosen to resign, citing lack of adequate protective equipment. EURACTIV Romania reports.

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ZAGREB

Another set of government measures. Croatian Finance Minister Zdravko Marić has announced another set of government measures to mitigate the economic fallout from the coronavirus crisis by specifically focusing on liquidity and the preservation of jobs. EURACTIV Croatia’s Tea Trubić Macan has the story.

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BELGRADE

Tariffs on Serbian and Bosnian imports lifted. Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti announced late on Tuesday (31 March) that the Kosovo government had decided to lift its tariffs on goods from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina as of midnight on Tuesday (31 March) until 15 June. However, while reciprocal measures are being applied to Serbia, these will not be applied in relation to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In other news, the former Slovak foreign minister, Miroslav Lajcak, is expected to become the EU’s special representative for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue and the Western Balkans, Radio Free Europe (RFE) has reported.

According to a document seen by RFE, Lajcak will assume the post for a period of one year on 2 April, a day after the EU ambassadors are expected to give their go-ahead for his appointment. EURACTIV Serbia looks at the document for you.

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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Daniel Eck, Benjamin Fox]