The European Union is working hard to combat the spread of Covid-19. While Europe is now seen as the "epicentre of the pandemic", governments are trying to best respond to the latest risk assessment from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Commission is coordinating this work.
"We know this crisis will be difficult, will take time, it will be very essential to be united.", said the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, following the G7 videoconference on Monday 16 March. The President of the Eurogroup, Mário Centeno, said for his part: "The virus has not reached its peak. We must not kid ourselves. These are the first steps in a temporary but long fight."
National measures to reduce social contacts
A few days earlier, the World Health Organization (WHO) had described Europe as the epicentre of the pandemic, with more reported cases of infection and deaths than the rest of the world combined, with the exception of China. "There are now more cases reported every day than there were in China at the height of its epidemic", the U.N. Secretary-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at that point.
On the morning of 16 March, there were 51,771 cases of infection in the EU/European Economic Area and 2,316 deaths. This will further convince Member States to listen to the European Centre for Disease Prevention, which, in its latest risk assessment, recommended suspending mass gatherings and facilitating 'social distancing' (see EUROPE 12445/2).
During the weekend, which saw the number of deaths linked to the virus explode in Italy, Portugal banned gatherings of more than 100 people, Austria banned gatherings of more than 5 people. The Czech Republic has banned people from travelling (except for work, essential shopping and other necessary activities) until 24 March. On Sunday the Netherlands and Luxembourg also ordered the closure of establishments and businesses open to the public and Ireland closed pubs. In addition, Italy, Spain, Austria and the Czech Republic have opted for strict containment measures.
Masks: Commission calls for European solidarity
On the part of the European institutions, the desire to coordinate national measures is continuing: the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, even announced a new videoconference for Heads of State or Government on Tuesday 17 March to follow up the meeting of 10 March (see EUROPE 12443/1).
On Sunday 15 March, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, published a video message in which she stressed the importance of European solidarity for personal protective equipment. She was critical of national bans on sales to other EU member states as "harmful" and announced the creation of a licensing system for exports from the EU (see separate article). "By producing more, keeping these products in Europe and sharing them among us, we can protect healthcare workers and our patients and contain the spread of the virus", she said, stressing the importance of ensuring the smooth functioning of the internal market.
It was in this context that on Sunday 15 March she urged the Member States to ensure that restrictive measures taken under Article 36 of the TFEU to protect the health and life of persons are "justified" and "notified" to the Commission (see EUROPE 12446/1). This is also why on Monday 16 March she presented guidelines on border measures to ensure that controls aimed at stemming the spread of the coronavirus do not block the supply of essential goods and medical staff (see separate article).
Following these guidelines, Germany has adapted its restrictions to allow German companies to participate in the Commission's joint purchasing tenders. France has also adapted its measures for requisitioning equipment and these are currently being analysed. For the other Member States that apply restrictions, such as the Czech Republic, the dialogue is still ongoing, a Commission spokesman confirmed.
Referring to the controversy that China is helping Italy but not the EU, a Commission spokesperson noted that the EU, using its civil protection mechanism, came to China's aid at the beginning of the epidemic. Over 56 tonnes of personal protective equipment from 9 Member States (Austria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Estonia, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, and Slovenia) were delivered to China.
Joint purchasing procedures
At the same time, the European Union is continuing its action for joint procurement. The European Commission is currently analysing offers received at its request for personal protective equipment, while 20 Member States have expressed interest (all except Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Lithuania and Portugal, as well as Finland, which has not signed the 2014 agreement allowing such a procedure). In addition, the European Commission has launched a new public procurement contract for respirators and test kits. "We have asked Member States that are interested to let us know so that we can start the procedure quickly", said a Commission spokesperson, who is also working in a reduced team. The institution's vice-president, Frans Timmermans, will be in quarantine until 20 March following his interaction with the French Secretary of State for Ecological Transition, Brune Poirson, who tested positive (see other news).
Several countries rely heavily on these joint purchases, such as Belgium, which, although it was promised half a million protective masks via the Chinese online retail giant Alibaba, will not receive the 5 million masks ordered from a producer in Turkey because of fraud.
Vaccine: EU protects its companies
But another battle is also being fought: the battle to develop a vaccine or treatment. During the weekend, the German press revealed the desire of the American president, Donald Trump, to get his hands on a current coronavirus vaccine project being developed by a German laboratory, the CureVac company. After her discussion with the German company on Monday 16 March, Ursula von der Leyen indicated that the EU had been supporting the company’s research "from the beginning" and that it would be awarding it financing totalling €80 million in the form of an EU guarantee on an EIB loan to the tune of that sum, as part of the InnovFin Infectious Diseases Finance Facility under the Horizon 2020 programme. For his part, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, replied to a question from the press on his exchange of views with Donald Trump in the framework of the G7 as follows: "It's important to act together to develop a vaccine".
On Friday 13 March, the European Medicines Agency stressed that the first clinical trials for a potential vaccine should not start before April/May 2020. However, it reiterated its proposal to offer free scientific advice for potential therapies (to treat the disease) or vaccines (to prevent the disease). Across the Atlantic, U.S. health authorities have indicated that the first clinical trial to test a candidate vaccine against the new coronavirus has begun in Seattle.
Thierry Breton in discussion with industry
On Sunday 15 March, Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton welcomed the French and German decisions to allow the export of protective equipment as a sign of "European cooperation and solidarity".
On Thursday 12 March, at a meeting with Health Ministers, alongside Commissioners Stella Kyriakides (Health) and Janez Lenarčič (Crisis Management), Commissioner Breton stressed the need to obtain from Member States, "at least on a weekly basis", the state of stocks and production of medical equipment.
The Commissioner also believes that it is necessary to increase production as quickly as possible and to channel the material to where it is most needed, following the development of the epidemic in the Union. Its appeal has already been partially heard: Italian ready-to-wear SMEs have announced the mass production of reusable masks and the luxury group LVMH has announced that it wants to manufacture "large quantities" of hydroalcoholic gel to give to hospitals, by redirecting three production sites in France.
Since Tuesday 10 March, Mr Breton has been in charge of monitoring the coordination of all supplies of medical equipment to protect hospital and care staff as a priority (see EUROPE 12444/8). (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean, with Aminata Niang and Pascal Hansens)