On this year’s Europe Day, which marks the 70th anniversary of the Schuman Declaration, the President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, succinctly summarised the message of the founding fathers of Europe. “Politics is useful when it’s brave. And when it’s brave, it can change things, it can even change the world”, he told the celebrations held in buildings of the European Parliament in Brussels on Saturday 9 May.
Concrete initiatives taken by the European Parliament since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic will not change the world. However, they will change the face of the European institution, which is often seen as cut off from the concerns of the citizens, particularly the most vulnerable sections of society. By responding immediately to the calls of associations which know what’s happening on the ground but are keeping their working teams in place, the Parliament, inspired by its President, is showing that it has fully taken the measure of the economic and public health challenge. It is also showing that it, too, is part of the solution, by redirecting its action and public money to where they are urgently required. The other European institutions would be well advised to watch and learn.
For this reason, Agence EUROPE has decided to report on these unprecedented measures in a special dossier by Véronique Leblanc in Strasbourg, and Agathe Cherki and Marion Fontana in Brussels.
David Sassoli’s speech
The European Parliament is not a rootless European institution, it is anchored in a place. Although its legislative work has been disturbed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it is mobilising every day to come to the assistance of vulnerable people in Strasbourg, Brussels and Luxembourg.
One of the Parliament’s buildings is taking in homeless women. Every day, its canteens prepare meals to be distributed to students and the needy. Its fleet of vehicles transports and distributes goods. Its interpreters’ booths are being used to facilitate meetings between elderly people and their families.
This solid evidence of solidarity shows that the Parliament is the beating heart of European democracy and that it is capable of holding out a hand to Europeans suffering from the side-effects of coronavirus. As the Schuman Declaration turns 70, it is our duty as responsible politicians to bring to life the spirit of solidarity and our predecessors’ vision – and to share these with future generations.
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT OPENS A COVID-19 TESTING CENTRE IN STRASBOURG
The Covid-19 testing centre in the headquarters of the European Parliament in Strasbourg opened its doors as scheduled on Monday 11 May, the date on which lockdown easing measures entered into force in France.
Initially planned to be hosted in the Pflimlin building, the 21 testing bays were finally set up in the emblematic Louise Weiss building at the start of the month. There are located on the ground floor, alongside the restaurant area, in a part of the building which has no fitted carpets and is therefore easy to deep-clean.
“This meets the conditions for more human testing conditions than the ‘drive-throughs’, and it is accessible by car or bicycle or using public transport”, explained Dr Laure Pain, medical adviser of the French Regional Health Authority of the Great East region of the country, at a press release arranged by the Prefecture of the Lower Rhine on 21 April, attended by German MEP Rainer Wieland (EPP), Vice-President of the EP, and his colleague, Pedro Silva Pereira of Portugal (S&D).
The route to the testing bays is marked with arrows and regulated by the Fire and Rescue Service of the Lower Rhine from the lobby. This facility aims to become a “mass testing centre for the use of the inhabitants of the Lower Rhine, particularly residents of the European metropolis of Strasbourg” and is able to take 2000 samples per day (out of a total capacity of 12,800 in Alsace), thanks to the staff of four regional laboratories. These are analysed automatically at Strasbourg’s University Hospital Centre (CHU), which can process 2000 tests in 24 hours.
Only people showing no symptoms who have been identified by their health insurance provider or GP as “contact cases” will be tested at the European Parliament’s testing centre, within seven days of contact with a confirmed patient. This procedure will be available exclusively on prescription and by appointment for virus testing (PCR) by means of a nasal swab to determine infection.
The facility was devised and implemented by the services of the Prefecture and Regional Health Authority, with the assistance of the City of Strasbourg and the European Parliament. “At the European Parliament, we have a liaison group with the local and regional authorities of our host cities; the administrations all know each other and can work together effectively”, explained Alsace MEP Anne Sander (EPP), who has been active in the implementation of these initiatives as Quaestor of the European Parliament, and also as somebody who is keen to provide her colleagues with awareness and education about them. Like another MEP from Alsace, Fabienne Keller of Strasbourg (Renew Europe), Sander attended the press launch of the Centre in the afternoon of Monday 11 May.
500 meals a day. This “concrete European solidarity” called for by David Sassoli, President of the European Parliament, since early April, is also expressed in the fact that the kitchens of the European Parliament in Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg have been made available. In Alsace, eight employees of the company Eurest, who were partially furloughed when lockdown began, have thus been able to return to full-time employment.
Every day since 29 April, they have cooked 500 meals served in individual blister packs, to be collected by the Red Cross and delivered to housing schemes, for single-parent families and young people living on the poverty line. Meal distribution covers every day of the week, with the weekend’s meals being delivered along with the Friday delivery.
Once again, this project has been carried out collaboratively between the Prefecture, the City and the services of the European Parliament, for instance to select the intermediary association and identify beneficiaries, in which the family allowance office and departmental authority of the Lower Rhine also assisted.
It is planned that this facility will remain in place until the end of July, as an urgent response to the consequences of the pandemic for people who were already vulnerable, and it is ultimately expected to secure 20 full-time jobs for the company Eurest. (Véronique Leblanc)
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT MAKES ITS KITCHENS AVAILABLE TO LOCAL ASSOCIATIONS DURING LOCKDOWN
In Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg, the corridors of the European Parliament are empty due to the public health crisis. However, the institution’s kitchens continue to function. Since 14 April, however, Kraft paper bags and individual plastic trays have replaced the more traditional crockery.
Answering appeals by President Sassoli and the Secretariat General of the Parliament, staff members have been turning up voluntarily, seven days a week, to prepare lunches for carers and charity associations. The institution reports that every day, 500 meals are prepared and distributed in Luxembourg and Strasbourg, plus a further 1000 in Brussels, all paid for by the EP.
In the Belgian capital, the Fédération des Services Sociaux (FdSS) was asked to identify the beneficiary associations and to provide a central point for their applications. These associations, most of which support the homeless, include Restos du Cœur, DoucheFLUX, la Croix Rouge, the CPAS Ixelles and the organisation ‘Jamais Sans Toit’.
Food distribution adapted and reconfigured
“We have been in touch with food associations, but also with day centres which did not offer meals before the crisis, but have now started to do so, as they can no longer provide their usual services”, said Brigitte Grisar, who is in charge of the FdSS food aid coordination project.
The association DoucheFLUX, for instance, usually distributes meals only very occasionally. “This is because under normal circumstances, there are very many initiatives in place in Brussels. However, all of it closed down when lockdown began and the homeless no longer had anywhere they could go to get food”, explained Elisabeth Mareels, head of communications for the association.
It is a similar story with Restos du Cœur in Saint-Gilles, whose activities have had to be revised. The association was obliged to close its restaurant and make changes to the way its kitchen operates, due to a lack of staff and donations of food. “We were therefore very keen to take the Parliament up on its proposal to supply ready and pre-packaged meals, which people can eat in the streets”, said Julie Turco, the coordinator of the association.
The Restos du Cœur collect between 130 and 150 meals directly from the Parliament twice a week, and stand ready to order more if needs be. DoucheFLUX, a beneficiary of the delivery service provided by the Parliament, has gone from 100 meals a day in mid-April to 50 a day in early May. This is because other initiatives have gradually reopened, such as projects within the Muslim community since the beginning of Ramadan.
An initiative as unprecedented as it is unexpected
“I feel that the Parliament has really adapted to the problems faced by the sector”, said Grisar of the FdSS, who also hailed an initiative that is as unprecedented as it is unexpected.
“This is the first time we have ever had a collaboration of this kind with the European institutions”, said Mareels. “We weren’t expecting it”, she added, regretting the fact that the European Union’s support for local players has generally been limited to grants in the framework of international projects.
This initiative – a “great example of the civic-mindedness of the Parliament”, as its President, David Sassoli, described it – has been set up indefinitely and is expected to continue at least as long as the crisis requires, according to a spokesperson for the institution.
Like many others involved in the sector, Mareels hopes that the “collaboration will continue and that it will not be limited to the period of lockdown”. (Agathe Cherki)
A SHELTER FOR 100 HOMELESS WOMEN IN THE PREMISES OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT IN BRUSSELS
A temporary shelter for 100 homeless women opened its doors at the end of April, in the Helmut Kohl building of the European Parliament. Managed by the charity Samusocial, it offers these homeless women a shower, three hot meals and a bed, every day of the week.
“The European Parliament wanted to do something and so got in touch with the authorities of Brussels to let them know that it was available to provide its support. We got wind of it and contacted the European Parliament with a proposal to set up a shelter in one of its buildings”, explained Christophe Thielens, a spokesperson for Samusocial.
The Parliament immediately accepted the proposal and within just a few days, the offices of its staff had been completely transformed. It had partition walls built and installed 10 showers and sanitary facilities while Samusocial set about furnishing the centre. “It’s quality infrastructure compared to what we are used to in some of our other emergency shelters”, Thielens stressed.
The building’s restaurant has been requisitioned for meals. The EP prepares them and Samusocial is in charge of serving them. In total, 32 staff members of the social emergency facility have been seconded to the shelter to provide hosting and psycho-social support. There is also on-call medical support available, provided by the association Médecins du Monde.
“It is an extremely strong symbol of solidarity the Parliament is showing”, the chairman of Samusocial, Stéphane Heymans, told an event hosted by the EP to mark Europe Day on Saturday 9 May. As the lockdown period has seen violence against women double, it is women who are particularly vulnerable, he pointed out.
However, the centre, which already had 97 residents by Sunday 10 May, is not exclusively for victims of domestic violence, as it welcomes women living in very different situations: resident legally or illegally, in situations of temporary emergency or long-term homelessness, women suffering from mental health problems, solitude or even alcoholism.
The only condition for access to the shelter is a negative Covid-19 test. Samusocial has rolled out testing to all the people it houses in the last week and provides them with washable cloth facemasks.
The centre set up in the Helmut Kohl building has 90 bedrooms to provide its 100 places. This means that almost every bedroom is single. “Everything has been set up in the shelter to allow social distancing”, Thielens said.
Social distancing, in fact, is precisely the object of the shelter. Previously, it has been impossible to observe this measure in other shelters, which often feature bunk beds and narrow corridors. For the pandemic, 1200 people were living in six shelters managed by Samusocial. Today, the same people are spread between 10 different structures.
In a twist of fate, Samusocial never had a women-only centre before the Covid-19 pandemic. “With this crisis, we can finally provide quality shelter that corresponds to what we want to have in place permanently”, Thielens said.
Access to the buildings is currently anticipated to go on until the end of July, although the EP will not be fully open for business again until September. “After that, there is a big question mark over the hosting capacities that will still be available to the homeless”, Thielens told us.
The end of lockdown will be the next major challenge for Samusocial, which fears that many of these temporary shelters will close down. “Lockdown must end very gradually for members of the public who are homeless”, Heymans warned. Firstly, because getting these people back into housing is a long-term project, but also because homeless people are a major vector of the virus. The first test results show that 20% of this section of the population tested positive for Covid-19.
Addressing, amongst others, the President of the European Parliament on Saturday, Heymans also called on all governments not to forget the homeless – the “invisible who have become visible” – in the national and European lockdown exit plans. (Marion Fontana)
EP’s interpreting booths help to get patients and their families back together. The Luxembourg offices of the European Parliament have had the highly original idea of using their interpreting booths for meetings between Covid-19 patients and their families, without risk of contamination. Under the scheme, six booths have been handed over to a care home of the elderly in Bettemburg. “Another brilliant idea is to leave cabins where the translators usually sit to allow the visitors to meet with their elderly or sick relatives”, commented Katarina Barley (S&D, Germany). She added: “normally, they would not be able to see them at all. But in these cabins they have the glass window between them. They can hear, speak to each other”. (MB)
80,000 masks distributed by the Council of Europe. Another European institution located in the City of Strasbourg, the Council of the EU, has adopted the French lockdown rules since the outbreak of the public health crisis. With its staff mainly continuing their work from home, the Council has not set in place any initiatives similar to those on offer from the European Parliament. However, on 20 March, it handed over its stockpile of 80,000 medical masks that it built up during the 2009-2020 influenza A (H1N1) to the Strasbourg offices of the Regional Health Authority of the Great East region. (VL)