Furious MEP Erupts At EU For Being ‘Too Focused On Climate Change’ To Tackle Coronavirus

A furious Dutch MEP has scolded European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for acting “too little, too late” in the fight against the coronavirus.

Dutch MEP Derk Jan Eppink said that the coronavirus crisis wreaking havoc across the European Union. (Image: GETTY)

Dutch MEP Derk Jan Eppink said that the coronavirus crisis wreaking havoc across the European Union showed the bloc’s weaknesses. In a furious rant against the EU’s response, Mr Eppink told Ursula von der Leyen, who is in the European Parliament at the time, that she had failed.

This comes amid a growing rift between EU member-states over how to respond to the growing pandemic.

The scathing assessment of Brussels came during a European Parliament debate on measures to tackle the current health crisis.

Mr Eppink criticized the European Commission for its slow response, noting that it was too focused on the climate and too little on the health crisis.

The Dutch MEP said: “We have to ask the question and come to the conclusion that the EU was too late to take this crisis seriously.

“The US took action and you criticised them for cutting the aviation connections with Europe even though later you did the same!

“Were you too focused on climate change and too little on the coronavirus? We were too late to take action.”

He urged the European Commission to use the €1 trillion pledged for the EU’s Green New Deal in the fight against the pandemic.

This echoes the Czech Republic’s prime minister, Andrej Babiš, who earlier said the European Union should abandon its Green Deal and focus on fighting the spread of the coronavirus.