After two ministerial meetings, Europe is moving up a gear on the coronavirus. The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, announced at the beginning of the week his intention to bring together the Heads of State or Government by teleconference to discuss this issue. It is expected to take place in the afternoon of 10 March.
"Following consultations, I will hold a European Council members conference call shortly on COVID-19 to coordinate EU efforts. We need to cooperate in order to protect the health of our citizens", the President of the European Council said on Twitter. Less than a minute later, the French President, Emmanuel Macron, was on the move with the following message: "In dealing with COVID-19, there is strength in numbers. I call on our European partners to take urgent action to coordinate health measures, research efforts and our economic response. Let's act together now".
Triple cooperation
Some avenues of work have already been discussed in these three fields. European Health Ministers have already discussed on several occasions how to better coordinate health measures, including the tracing of people in contact with patients (see EUROPE 12441/1, 12425/1, 12418/3). At a press conference on Monday, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, also spoke of strengthening the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), as previously requested by Germany, in conjunction with an agreement on the next Multiannual Financial Framework. On the European Parliament's side, President David Sassoli proposed to launch a debate on the idea of an EU agency that would allow all member states to buy masks and medical equipment "at the same price". A mechanism which already exists to some extent through the joint procurement mechanism for medical countermeasures, was recently activated by 20 countries for personal protective equipment (see EUROPE 12437/1).
As regards research, the Commission has already disbursed €47.5 million to fund research on vaccines, treatments, diagnostic tests and preventive measures, while the European Medicines Agency has activated its plan for managing emerging threats (see EUROPE 12418/3).
On the economic front, there have been increasing calls by governments for Europe to support action taken by Member States (see other news). The French Minister of Economy spoke of a "massive economic recovery plan to deal with the impact of the epidemic" while the Italian government called for European measures to counter the impact of the coronavirus epidemic on the bloc's economies. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)