Belgian Prime Minister @AlexanderDeCroo is announcing right now the reopening plan for the πŸ‡§πŸ‡ͺ summer. Next step will be 9 June.

This past weekend was the first step: bars and restaurants reopened for serving outdoors, and the curfews ended.
The next reopening step will depend on meeting vaccination and hospitalisation milestones, De Croo confirms - just like Saturday's reopening did.

"9 out of 10 people over 65 are now vaccinated" in Belgium, De Croo says.

The threshold necessary for Saturday's reopening was 7.
If on 9 June 80% of vulnerable people are vaccinated (corresponds to 1/2 of all adults) and less than 500 people in intensive care, then:

πŸ‹οΈβ€β™‚οΈ Gyms & theatres reopen
🍻 Bars/restaurants serve inside
πŸ•™ Closing time moves from 22h to 23:30
🏠 Small gatherings (4) allowed at home
πŸ—“οΈBy 1 July, 60% of Belgian adults should have received their 1st vaccination (up from 40% today), De Croo says.

If so, then people can go back to the office. Events of up to 2,000 people can happen indoors.
πŸ—“οΈ13 August: outdoor festivals of any size can take place in Belgium - if vaccinations have kept pace (should be well over 70% by then).

πŸ—“οΈ1 September envisioned as the end of all restrictions. "The day on which we can once again allow our social life to flourish" says De Croo.

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More from @DaveKeating

9 May
"The #FutureOfEurope conference is for all Europeans to debate a shared vision of what we want of our union," says Commission President @vonderleyen.

"The conference must be whatever Europeans want it to be." Image
"I’m conscious there's always scepticism & cynicism whenever Europe launches a project of this nature. So we must make sure this is not a closed political exercise

We must listen to all voices, whether critical or complimentary, and make sure we follow up on whatever was agreed
There are certain issues we should attempt to resolve," says VDL.

"For example some feel Europe is too close and too involved in their lives. For others it is too far away and remote. This is an opportunity for Europeans to help find the right balance."
Read 7 tweets
9 May
President @EmmanuelMacron opens speech launching #FutureOfEurope by making the case for Strasbourg as a heart of the European project.

The European Parliament where he’s speaking has been empty for 6 months as MEPs refused to make the monthly trip from Brussels because of COVID. Image
#Macron says Europeans should be proud of what the EU has accomplished. He says now is the time for citizens to have their say about how the EU can improve.

The nagging question: if #TreatyChange has been ruled out, will this conference actually result in any changes? Image
Macron says that the populists and nationalists who oppose the values of the European Union have proven unable to effectively respond to the #Covid19 pandemic.

He says Europe was right to respond to the crisis with a unified strategy. Image
Read 8 tweets
8 May
The big day has finally arrived - #Belgium is reopening bars and restaurants today after 6 months of them being closed, and the 10pm curfew is ending.

But they can only serve people seated outside (no more than 4 people to a table), and tables must be 1.5 metres apart.
The weather, however, is dampening enthusiasm. We've had cold & rain for weeks here in πŸ‡§πŸ‡ͺ and it's not ending any time soon.

Belgians do love a beer, but I doubt we'll see scenes here of people shivering and wet weeping tears of joy into their pints today brusselstimes.com/news/belgium-a…
The πŸ‡§πŸ‡ͺ reopening is possible because of the dramatic increase in vaccination pace here recently.

The government said today's reopening could happen if 70% of people over 65 were vaccinated. That milestone was reached in late April.

1/3 of the country has now been vaccinated.
Read 4 tweets
6 May
Possible next πŸ‡©πŸ‡ͺ chancellor @ABaerbock from the #GreenParty says the EU hasn't had a strong foreign policy because Germany hasn't had a strong foreign policy.

"It’s not about Germany telling the others what to do, but if we are behaving very passively it’s hard for the others." Image
The idea that it will take a Green chancellor to give Germany a more hawkish foreign policy and make the country take up its responsibilities on the world stage is ironic, but not entirely illogical.

The prospect of this will be welcome news for Brussels and Washington.
Baerbock takes a hard line against Russian #NordStream2 gas pipeline, saying the Merkel government's support for it is undermining the Russian sanctions.

"We cannot finalise this project...We need to be in the front row of action, not being so passive on this project".
Read 4 tweets
6 May
President @vonderleyen: "We all heard the nagging questions, especially in the first month of this pandemic, 'Aren't nation states better equipped to fight this crisis? Isn't our union of 27 too slow to react?'"

"But Europe has proven these claims wrong." Image
"Europe has demonstrated that a union of democracies can deliver in times of crisis. For its own citizens *and* for the rest of the world.

"Under huge pressure, we Europeans stood by our values."
audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-205…
VDL: "We decided to procure vaccines together in our union. This was the right decision."

"I don't even want to imagine what it would have meant if some large member states had secured their vaccines, while the rest, all the small and medium member states, went empty handed."
Read 9 tweets
6 May
EU President von Der Leyen has followed US President Biden in changing her stance on opening #Covid19Vaccine patents.

There is heavy pharma pressure against this move. They say it’s more complicated than just releasing IP. reuters.com/article/health…
Some important caveats on πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡ΈπŸ‡ͺπŸ‡Ί announcements of opening #COVID19Vaccine patents:

πŸ‡ͺπŸ‡Ί VDL will need assent of 27 EU countries
πŸ‡¬πŸ‡§ WTO needs unanimous assent, UK still opposing opening patents
🌍 Will take months of negotiations at WTO, won't help in short term
This is a 'not so fast' from Council President Michel to Commission President von der Leyen. Michel represents the views of national governments.

It's not clear what this "third way" is. But there is deep resistance (esp from πŸ‡§πŸ‡ͺπŸ‡³πŸ‡±) to opening patents.
Read 4 tweets

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