IKV Chairman Ayhan Zeytinoğlu welcomed the Eurogoup’s agreement on the package of measures to be taken against the COVID-19 crisis on 9 April 2020. Indicting that the COVID-19 pandemic caused an extremely serious economic crisis, IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu underscored the importance of EU’s support. IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu highlighted the need to provide utmost support in terms of EU solidarity and said that for Turkey, it was essential that the EU emerged from the crisis. IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu stated the following:

“The Eurogroup, consisting of the finance ministers of Euro Area countries, made important decisions. They agreed to implement a 500-billion-euro worth package of measures. The European Stability Mechanism (ESM), which has not been mobilised until now, will make a 240-billion-euro credit line available within two weeks. Strict fiscal rules previously applied to Greece during the financial crisis will be relaxed. Euro Area countries benefitting from this fund will be included to the EU’s macroeconomic surveillance frameworks after the crisis. This way, it will be possible to restore the fiscal discipline that has been relaxed during the crisis. ESM support will be provided mainly for direct and indirect health expenditures and mitigating the economic crisis. If necessary, 410 billion euros -which is the entire amount at the disposal of the ESM- will be made available. In addition, under the SURE instrument, the European Commission will provide 100 billion euros in loans to the Member States for short-term working allowances. A 200 billion-euro fund will be set up under the EIB to support companies and SMEs. I consider these measures positive, especially in terms of providing support to Member States at the peak of the crisis. However, it may take time for the economy to recover. Additional support may be needed, especially for countries such as Italy and Spain which have been most affected by the crisis. To this end, a proposal for issuing corona bonds was put forward. However, it was rejected by Germany, Austria, Finland and the Netherlands. Although the joint issuance of debt by Euro Area countries does not seem possible at this stage, this may come up again in the future. In this context, instead of undertaking the debts of countries like Italy, creating a new recovery fund for the borrowing required to get out of the crisis could be considered."

Indicating that the issue was also important for Turkey, IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu drew attention to the following:

For a country like Turkey with advanced commercial and economic relations with the EU, the recovery of the EU economy it is of key importance. Based on taking control of the pandemic, production and trade getting back to normal is also important for Turkey. Half of our exports go to EU countries, especially Germany. With the revival of the EU market, the decline in exports could be reversed. After the crisis is over, the modernisation of the Turkey-EU Customs Union will be on the agenda again. After the crisis, Turkey's importance as a production base integrated into the European market will be better understood."