Paolo Gentiloni, the EU's Economy Commissioner and former Italian Prime Minister told Euronews that vaccinations, not vaccines will be the key to resuscitating Europe's beleaguered economy.
ADVERTISEMENTThe EU's Economy Commissioner has told Euronews that an effective vaccination campaign will be crucial to reviving the continent's economic fortunes.
Paolo Gentiloni, also Italý's former Prime Minister, said that the process of administering vaccines will determine how well Europe recovers.
"The game-changer for the economy is not itself the vaccines, but the vaccination. And the vaccination process needs to be as fast as possible to have consequences in our way of lives and in our economies," Gentolini explained.
"We have a common European procurement, a common distribution of vaccines, but now we need to proceed with this vaccination campaign to have an economic impact in a positive way in the next weeks and months," he added.
The former Prime Minister also told Euronews that it is too early to assess the impact of the vaccination campaign on the economy right now, particularly with member states maintaining restrictive lockdown measures.
But Mathias Dewatripont, an Economics Professor at Université Libre de Bruxelles, said that a successful vaccine rollout and return to normal life will boost the confidence of businesses and citizens, something that will be key to resuming economic activity.
"It is normal life that will allow, let's say, first of all, to increase economic activity in most sectors and there is also the other aspect of people who are afraid. Hotels today are open today, for example, but people are afraid to come to Brussels and therefore they're empty. So, a return of confidence and normal life will be key to reviving the economy," Dewatripont told Euronews.
