Tweets of the Week: EU Corona Plans, Earth Day, Oil Prices

COVID-19 crisis continues, you all know the score, EarthDay reminds us, we could all do much more, and the global oil price drops through the floor.

This week we are supported by PostEurop, more about them later on. 

We’ve been off air for a couple of weeks, so a quick recap: COVID-19 is still happening!

From an EU perspective that means arguments over money, a “roadmap” to get out of lockdown, and the UK still insisting it doesn’t want anything to do with those pesky Europeans.

Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen set out three conditions for an EU country to relax its lockdown:

Significant and sustained decrease in spread, sufficient health system capacity, and

sufficient surveillance, monitoring, and large-scale testing.

 

But former Brussels correspondent Stanley Pignal says the Commission’s thoughts on lockdowns carry about as much weight as a newspaper editorial.

The way to hell is paved with roadmaps designed by EU institutions quipped Diego Velazquez ahead of Thursday’s European Council Video Conference.

 

In which Council President Charles Michel asked the Commission to come up “a proposal that is commensurate with the challenge we are facing.”

Speaking of hell, the UK is having a helluva time defending the decision not to join a EU scheme to buy medical and protective equipment. 

We had the blame game, muddled “communications,” a moment of candour and then more non-denial denials… 

But Jonathan Lis said: “This EU procurement issue is not a great mystery. The communication problem is a red herring. The government knew about the scheme. They decided not to be in it for political reasons. We know that, because they told us.”

Expect this one to run and run!

 

In other news, Wednesday was EarthDay!

It has been 50 years since the first Earth Day tweeted Peter Kalmus, NASA climate scientist, and it hasn’t gone well!

Commissioner for the Environment Virginijus Sinkevičius said the next 50 years will be crucial, and we’ve got lessons to learn from the COVID-19 crisis.

“As the global recovery from the pandemic picks up, global warming will not slow down,” added the European Commission.

“A more modern and circular economy will boost our resilience.”

Our sponsor this week is PostEurop, the organisation of European Postal Operators, who are helping to fight climate change every day thanks to one of the largest fleets of alternative vehicles. Find out more using the hashtag #GreenDelivery.

 

And as if one crisis at a time wasn’t enough, this week saw worldwide oil prices tumble to an unprecedented negative price.

 

You can now buy 40 barrels of oil for the price of a Freddo bar, tweeted

Richard Chambers.

While James Felton reckoned the ESSO station should be paying him to fill up his car.

And with Oktoberfest 2020 officially cancelled 

 

Hylke Dijkstra wondered if German beer would soon be trading at minus $40 per barrel.

So, a roll of toilet paper is worth more than a barrel of oil and the Germans are not drinking beer! That’s 2020 for you!

 

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