EU leaders agreed at their meeting on 15-16 October to discuss the evolution of the coronavirus pandemic on a more regular basis. At a time when the situation is worsening in most Member States, these discussions should take the form of almost weekly videoconferences.
“It is important for the EU to exchange views on the Covid-19 pandemic, as is done with the Länder in Germany”, said German Chancellor Angela Merkel. “I spoke of weekly meetings yesterday. But maybe it’ll be ten days later or a little more. I don't want to get into that right now. It will also depend on the situation”, she continued.
Germany, which currently holds the rotating Presidency of the EU Council, will coordinate with the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on the practical arrangements.
Virtual vs. physical meetings
This is not the first time that a European summit has resulted in this type of commitment. Already in the Spring, Ursula von der Leyen had announced that the Commission would hold weekly video conferences with the European Health Ministers, although many of them had ended up delegating these meetings. A total of six informal ministerial meetings have been organised by the EU Council, with the seventh scheduled for 30 October.
The decision to organise regular virtual meetings at the highest political level raises the question of the relevance of physical meetings (see EUROPE 12443/1). Three people - Mrs von der Leyen, the Polish Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, and the Finnish Prime Minister, Sanna Marin - have been totally or partially absent from this European summit due to quarantine.
Charles Michel recalled that a strict health security protocol was respected during European summits. In his view, videoconferencing has certain limitations, particularly in terms of confidentiality and effectiveness in making compromises. But, “in the coming weeks, on a case-by-case basis, it will be up to us to identify the format and the most judicious way to proceed”, he commented.
The German EU Council Presidency has already announced the cancellation of the EU/China Summit to be held in Berlin on 16 November.
Progress, but can improve
The conclusions adopted by the EU27 at the end of the European Council welcome the new common criteria for travel restrictions, which enabled the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) to publish, on Thursday 15 October, its first colour-coded maps (with 17 out of 27 countries appearing in red).
But the EU27 call on the EU Council, the Commission and the Member States to continue the overall coordination effort on the basis of the best available scientific evidence, “in particular with regard to quarantine rules, cross-border contact tracing, screening strategies, joint evaluation of screening methods, mutual recognition of tests and temporary restrictions on non-essential travel to the EU”.
The issue of quarantine periods, which, depending on the Member State, last between five and 14 days, will be on the agenda of the Health Security Committee meeting on Monday 19 October.
In his speech, Charles Michel also talked about efforts to shorten the time it takes to communicate test results to patients.
Bad news on treatments
Several EU leaders, such as Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, have welcomed the European strategy on vaccination (see EUROPE 12582/7).
The question of treatment does not seem to have been raised, despite rumours circulating about the poor results of Remdésivir. According to the Financial Times, the Solidarity clinical trial, conducted by the World Health Organization to examine the effects of Remdésivir and three other potential treatments in more than 10,000 hospitalised patients, would not be conclusive.
However, according to Reuters, the EU has agreed to pay more than one billion euros (1.2 billion dollars) to purchase from Remdésivir’s manufacturer, American-owned Gilead (see EUROPE 12538/6, 12577/3).
See European Council conclusions: https://bit.ly/353aPsK (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean, with the editorial staff)