A plea for more coordination. This is, logically, the way the extraordinary meeting of European Health Ministers on the new coronavirus on Thursday 13 February should proceed. The draft conclusions address the issue of border management, without advocating the closure of borders; and the joint purchase of equipment, in view of the risks of shortages.
The new coronavirus, renamed Covid-19, appeared in the city of Wuhan in China's Hubei province. It was reported by the Chinese authorities to the World Health Organization (WHO) on 31 December and, as of 12 February, had already resulted in more than 45,000 infections and 1,115 deaths. It is in this context and following a teleconference on 7 February that several Member States called for an extraordinary Council meeting on the disease. The Director-General of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, will also attend the meeting.
On the basis of the working paper prepared by Croatia's Presidency of the Council of the EU and the draft conclusions, joint procurement of equipment and border management will indeed be among the topics for discussion.
Joint purchase of equipment
During the exchange of views, the Croatian Presidency will ask Ministers about possible increased cooperation on prevention and preparedness as well as actions to be taken to ensure a continuous supply of medical and pharmaceutical equipment.
Several Member States are concerned about a shortage of equipment from China. "In this particular case, supply systems are vulnerable to disruptions in Chinese manufacturing because many products essential to effectively mitigate public health threats, such as personal protective equipment and active ingredients, are imported from China", notes the Croatian paper.
One of the ideas currently on the table would be to activate the famous joint procurement mechanism. Under Decision 1082/2013, this voluntary mechanism co-signed by 25 Member States (all except Finland, Poland and Sweden) allows a minimum of four Member States to join forces for the advance purchase of medical countermeasures for serious cross-border health threats. This allows them to purchase a minimum quantity of medical countermeasures and reserve production capacity by paying a reservation fee (a percentage) on an annual basis. According to our information, which had yet to be confirmed by the European Commission (confirmation which we had not received at the time of going to press), since its creation, this mechanism has already been activated for tuberculosis, hepatitis C and antitoxins against diphtheria and botulism (see EUROPE 11457/8).
Border management: coordination rather than prohibition
During their meeting, ministers are expected to adopt a series of conclusions in which they "welcome the EU's effective response" and call for continued and increased cooperation at EU and global level.
Border management is implicit in the document (see EUROPE 12422/3). Italy, which had introduced flight restrictions and wanted to extend them to the European territory, will ultimately be unsuccessful. In the document, the Twenty-Seven urged Member States to act together "in a proportionate and appropriate manner, in line with WHO and ECDC recommendations". However, these two organisations do not advocate a closure of borders, which they believe could increase illegal crossings.
Failing that, the document suggests that states cooperate to ensure that travel advice and warnings are provided at EU entry points and insists on safeguarding freedom of movement in the EU. However, unlike an earlier version, it abandons joint targeting (identification) of potentially infected persons. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)