Coordination, communication and information exchange is needed at EU level to come up with a joint response to the crisis and the relaunch of tourism industry, said EU tourism ministers at a videoconference on Wednesday, convened by the Croatia’s Presidency. They exchanged views with Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton and Commissioner for Transport Adina Vălean.

The ongoing impact of the pandemic crisis on the cultural and creative sectors and the possible ways to re-engage artists and audiences in a new social and economic circumstances were the items high on the agenda of the videoconference of EU Ministers of Culture and Audiovisual, held on Tuesday. The sitting was chaired by Croatian Minister of Culture Nina Obuljen Koržinek and in its work took part Mariya Gabriel, EU Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth.

SURE, a temporary instrument to help workers keep their jobs during the crisis, which can provide up to €100bn of loans under favourable terms to member states, was greenlighted by the Council on Tuesday. It is part of the EU emergency support package to tackle the economic impact of the Covid-19 crisis.

We are all aware of the anxieties of students, teachers and parents, and we are therefore doing our best to help them navigate through the many challenges facing the education sector during the Covid-19 pandemic, including the question of examinations, said Blaženka Divjak, Croatian Minister for Science and Education, who chaired on Monday the videoconference of the ministers of education. 

At the Eurogroup videoconference on Friday afternoon, the finance ministers from the euro area countries reviewed the progress made on the €540bn economic safety nets they agreed more than a month ago and were endorsed by the members of the European Council. Afterwards, the ministers in inclusive format of EU27 held a strategic discussion on the priorities for the EU economic recovery and exchanged views with EP ECON Committee Chair Irene Tinagli.

The Croatian Presidency organized a videoconference of EU ministers responsible for internal market and industry to discuss measures that need to be taken at both national and European level in order to counteract the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the EU economy. These discussion should provide input to the Commission in finalising its long awaited Recovery Plan.

Finance ministers of the euro area agreed on Friday at a videoconference on all the features and details of the Pandemic crisis support tool, the ESM-based backstop for sovereigns. It is part of the €540bn package of three safety nets for workers, businesses and member states, approved by EU leaders in April. 

EU leaders voiced again their strong solidarity with the partners from the Western Balkans in the context of the coronavirus crisis, reads one of the points, altogether 20, of the Zagreb Declaration. It was issued during the EU-Western Balkans summit, held on Wednesday afternoon. The Croatian capital Zagreb was supposed to host the event, but because of the corona outbreak, it took place through a video conference.

At 4:30pm sharp on Wednesday, was kicked off the EU-Western Balkans' leaders meeting at which EU heads of state and government and their counterparts of the Western Balkans will discuss how effectively to tackle common challenges such as the coronavirus pandemic, but also to reaffirm the European perspective of the region. The summit was initially foreseen to take place in Zagreb, but it was shifted online due to the Covid-19 outbreak. 

The use of tracing apps in tackling the Covid-19 crisis and the role of the digital sector in the post-pandemic recovery were the main topics on the menu of EU Telecommunications ministers during a videoconference on Tuesday, organised by the Croatian Presidency.