A spokesperson for the European Commission announced on Sunday 11 October that Covid-19-related restrictions had been increased at the institution after Commissioner Mariya Gabriel and a member of Olivér Várhelyi’s team tested positive. In the light of the deteriorating health situation in Belgium, this approach is broadly applicable in all of the institutions in Brussels.
European Commission. European Commission spokesperson Eric Mamer tweeted that more meetings will be held virtually, although weekly meetings of the Heads of Cabinet and the College of Commissioners will continue to be held face-to-face.
The following day, a spokesperson for the institution said: “Strict measures have been in place since the beginning of the crisis and new measures were announced this weekend to strengthen the existing regime”. He noted that physical meetings will initially be organised with “smaller numbers and a strict distancing protocol”.
Last Friday, the European Commission - which employs 32,800 people - had 22 positive cases.
Council of the EU/European Council. Caution is also called for on the other side of the street.
The EU summit of leaders and their close associates on 15 and 16 October will follow the same arrangements as the previous one, i.e. the press will not be admitted to the meeting.
With regard to the other levels, a letter addressed to the Council of the EU staff on 8 October points out that, over the last 3 weeks, the Secretariat-General has identified “11 new cases among staff and nine among externals”. The letter points out that “in recent weeks, the situation has become worse due to avoidable behaviour. A growing number of staff are coming to work at the office when their presence has not been essential. Much more worryingly, there has been behaviour by some building users that puts everyone else at risk”. The letter goes on to remind staff of the importance of protective measures and to stress that individuals with symptoms should stay at home.
According to a wider count, the Secretariat-General of the Council of the EU has registered a total of 45 confirmed cases since 1 March.
European Parliament. The great unknown for Parliament is still the venue for the next plenary session (19-22 October). At the end of September, in response to a letter from Emmanuel Macron, the President of the European Parliament expressed his desire to rearrange the plenary sessions in Strasbourg as soon as the health situation permitted (see EUROPE 12570/23). Since then, however, David Sassoli has placed himself in quarantine, which will last until 18 October, following the discovery of a positive case in his team (see EUROPE 12577/29).
The institution did not provide any figures on the number of infections among its staff. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)