Written declaration No. 711 | Doc. 15102 | 29 April 2020

In a Europe hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Council of Europe Development Bank has more than ever a role to play

Signatories: Ms Nicole TRISSE, France, ALDE ; Mr Arnaud BAZIN, France, EPP/CD ; Ms Maryvonne BLONDIN, France, SOC ; Mr Bertrand BOUYX, France, ALDE ; Mr Bob De BRABANDERE, Belgium, EC/DA ; Mr Ahmet Ünal ÇEVİKÖZ, Turkey, SOC ; Ms Yolaine de COURSON, France, ALDE ; Ms Marie-Christine DALLOZ, France, EPP/CD ; Ms Jennifer DE TEMMERMAN, France, ALDE ; Ms Nicole DURANTON, France, EPP/CD ; Mr Bernard FOURNIER, France, EPP/CD ; Mr Carlos Alberto GONÇALVES, Portugal, EPP/CD ; Mr Fabien GOUTTEFARDE, France, ALDE ; Mr Tom van GRIEKEN, Belgium, EC/DA ; Mr Guy-Dominique KENNEL, France, EPP/CD ; Mr Claude KERN, France, ALDE ; Mr Luís LEITE RAMOS, Portugal, EPP/CD ; Ms Alexandra LOUIS, France, ALDE ; Ms Isabel MEIRELLES, Portugal, EPP/CD ; Mr Oleksandr MEREZHKO, Ukraine, SOC ; Mr Frédéric REISS, France, EPP/CD ; Ms Darya SAFAI, Belgium, NR ; Ms Selin SAYEK BÖKE, Turkey, SOC ; Mr Andrzej SZEJNA, Poland, SOC ; Mr Sylvain WASERMAN, France, ALDE ; Ms Martine WONNER, France, ALDE ; Ms Lesia ZABURANNA, Ukraine, ALDE

This written declaration commits only those who have signed it.

We, the undersigned, declare the following:

The coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, which has hit the populations of the Council of Europe member States hard, represents an existential challenge for many entities or organisations (companies, associations, health care systems, public authorities) that structure our contemporary societies. To tackle this scourge, solidarity is the best response.

On a daily basis, the people affected by the pandemic demonstrate that mutual aid is essential. Caregivers, civil servants, farmers, food industry workers, and manufacturers capable of reorienting their production lines according to needs, confined families, all show admirable self-sacrifice in order to save lives.

States and international organisations must also show solidarity, at least more than they do today. The Council of Europe cannot remain on the sidelines, especially since after the health crisis there will be another equally worrying crisis, an economic and social crisis. Thereupon, the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) has a role to play in accompanying member States in the post-crisis period. The CEB is the appropriate tool for the Organisation's contribution to resolving these major challenges.