The COVID-19 pandemic is severely testing the European Union. But it has also reminded us how interconnected we are. It has forced all levels of government – EU, national, regional, towns and villages – to work together.

The EU has deployed unprecedented anti-unemployment funds, is guaranteeing EU stockpiles of medical equipment and is making available loans to SMEs. The EU, of course, should do more and adopt additional measures in terms of prevention, budget and fiscal measures.

It is clear that centralised power cannot answer all the challenges from such an emergency. Saving lives and our economies is synonymous with supporting all local and regional authorities. The contribution of local and regional governments has been, is and will be key to stop the pandemic, guarantee health services, protect jobs, support SMEs and prepare the ground for the economic and social recovery.

Over the past weeks, we already witnessed the importance of local governance in fighting the pandemic. The Local Councils’ Association in partnership with all local councils in Malta and Gozo launched YouSafe – a community support platform, to help residents, organisations and the business community keep in contact with each other.

This online platform consists of 68 Facebook groups managed and moderated by the respective local council team. YouSafe enabled 230 local council members to work from the safety of their homes while keeping close contact with their respective community. We have also seen civil society members and volunteers working round the clock to support vulnerable people, including the elderly, delivering food, medicines and essential products.

We need to build resilient communities across Europe

We now need a bold European recovery plan that assists those on the forefront of this emergency and meets the needs of regions, cities and villages across Europe. It has to support all communities.

These exceptional circumstances require exceptional measures and resources. A way to unlock the necessary funds for the EU’s much discussed recovery plans is to push the investment capacity of the EU’s budget up to €2,000 billion by increasing to two per cent – from the current 1.2 per cent – the ceiling of national contributions to the EU budget. This would release an additional €1,000 billion for investments and guarantees, mobilising trillions to support the EU, national governments, regions and cities.

This would also reinvigorate EU regional policy – cohesion policy – which aims to reduce inequalities and improve the resilience of regions, cities and villages across Europe.

We need a de facto solidarity with all those who have been hit by the crisis. Solidarity that goes hand in hand with responsibility. And we need unity between all levels of governance: European, national, regional and local, in the interest of our citizens.

Cooperating to repair disasters is nothing new for the EU. After all, a European Community of nations emerged to protect us, at that time from war, and European policies emerged at a pace dictated by nation states. This was a top-down process.

This time, European democracy can recover through a bottom-up process, to protect against lethal risks such as pandemics, but also climate change and social exclusion. We need to build resilient communities across Europe, demonstrating the true strength of European cooperation.

One million politicians elected at regional and local level across Europe deliver vital services for their people and communities. We see citizens’ call for a renewal of democracy when they vote in villages, cities, for the national and European parliaments.

Regional and local leaders are vital for the renewal of the EU. They commit to be fully part of this recovery and contribute to strengthening the trust in EU democracy.

Seventy years on from the foundations laid for today’s EU, local and regional governments must be not only Europe’s roots, but a pillar of the EU. Now more than ever, the COVID-19 crisis is not the end of the European project but rather the opportunity for a new Europe. Because we are all Europe.

Apostolos Tzitzikostas is president of the European Committee of the Regions and Samuel Azzopardi is president of the Gozo region.