BRUSSELS: European Union leaders stressed on Friday (Saturday in Manila) the importance of fighting poverty and inequality as the continent emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic, but member-states remain divided about Brussels’ role in rebuilding a fair economy. The heads of the EU institutions agreed an action plan with stakeholders from labor and civil society, before heading to dinner with most of the 27 member-state leaders ahead of Saturday’s European summit. A handful of leaders, notably German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, will attend only by videoconference. In what was dubbed the “social summit,” the meetings began on Friday with conferences bringing together representatives of civil society and trade unionists as French President Emmanuel Macron and other leaders attended workshops. For Fernanda Martins, who runs a small family cafe nearby with her husband, Friday’s meeting meant above all the return, however briefly, of a clientele that has been missing since the pandemic hit.

Source: Manila Times May 08, 2021 16:18 UTC