On Tuesday the 19th of May, the 196th Bureau meeting of the European Committee of the Regions was held online. The CoR's Bureau is comprised of members representing the various European political groups and national delegations. It meets before every upcoming plenary session to coordinate the work for commissions and the future plenary agenda.  The ECR Group is represented in this body by members Pavel Branda, Roberto Ciambetti, Juraj Droba, Władysław Ortyl and Jarosław Stawiarski.

The focus of the discussion was firstly on the local and regional approach in dealing with current covid-19 pandemic. Specifically, the debate was focused on the CoR's Action Plan in dealing with the pandemic as well as the CoR's declaration on the topic of covid-19. The ECR Group did not co-sign the CoR's declaration and President of the ECR Group, Władysław Ortyl instead recommended members to abstain. The rationale was that the coronavirus cannot be used as a pretense for increasing centralization and endless deepening of integration. Furthermore, the EU should prioritize both the social and economic recovery from the coronavirus ahead of other existing policies that are to be implemented.

Speaking on the matter Mr. Ortyl said “If the coronavirus does not lead to us rethinking of some of the most costly EU policies, such as the Green Deal, what will? Exceptional times require exceptional measures."

ECR Vice-President Mr Juraj Droba elaborated on this opinion while also emphasizing that "the CoR's statement on covid-19 calls on the EU to be granted powers to declare an 'EU-wide state of emergency". He asked what would be the purpose of having same measures adopted for cities like Madrid and Bratislava.  He also called for greater localism, saying that “we should aim to find tailor made solutions to tackle the crisis, no one size-fits-all solutions".

In the long debate, the ECR Group remained committed to policies that support local empowerment and regional authority, especially when dealing with an issue as diverse and multi-faceted as the covid-19 epidemic.