It is important to bear mind that shopping malls as well as the rest of the commercial real estate sector are part of a larger ecosystem, which includes retailers/tenants but also investors and their shareholders.

On 6 May, ECSP, together with 17 leading international and national real estate investment associations issued a joint statement highlighting the critically important role our industry plays in society and the economy in Europe and supporting government measures to recover from the financial impacts of the Covid-19 crisis.

The European Council of Shopping Places has written to the European Commission expressing concerns that the current measures being considered by the EU in response to the Covid-19 crisis may not be sufficient to prevent a severe downturn in the retail property sector. The letter clearly states that our sector is willing to help where it can and proposes among others, to set up a EU Retail Relief Fund to financially support the entire retail industry is set up as part of the EU recovery action plan as well as amenable solutions to alleviate the burden of rental costs for retail companies.