In her opinion on "Experiences and lessons learned by regions and cities during the COVID-19 crisis" Joke Schauvliege (BE/EPP) highlights the crucial role of local and regional authorities in the response to the crisis and in the recovery and aims to bring forward recommendations to the EU level based on evidence from the ground.
Today, the rapporteur, together with her expert, met with representatives of local and regional associations and other stakeholders for a consultation and an exchange of views on the relevant issues related to the opinion.
“Rural areas across Europe have been hugely impacted by the pandemic and many of the existing challenges in rural communities have been magnified by the ongoing crisis. It’s important that we gather evidence on the best practices and challenges in rural areas during the COVID-19 crisis, including those that are linked to measures introduced by the EU and learn from these experiences, so that we can draw conclusions and provide recommendations for the way forward, towards recovery.” said Joke Schauvliege,
Schauvliege who is Member of the Flemish Parliament said that challenges faced by rural areas during the pandemic included access to healthcare and other services, lack of digital and other infrastructure and the ever-increasing pressures on public sector finances. She highlighted the pandemic’s drastic impacts on the tourism and agriculture sectors which have been strongly felt by many rural areas.