The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is in preventive isolation “in Germany”, admitted the spokesperson for the European institution, Eric Mamer, on Tuesday 20 October.
On Thursday 15 October, Ms von der Leyen learned that she had been in contact with a person who had tested positive. She left the EU summit as a precautionary measure and indicated that she had gone into preventive isolation for the second time since the start of the pandemic, even after testing negative the same day (see EUROPE 12582/7).
In the Commission's view, mandatory quarantine and preventive isolation are governed by different rules.
“According to the protocols that are in place, the President had no obligation to go into self-isolation. (...) It was decided consciously that nevertheless she would go into self-isolation. Indeed she is in Germany at this point in time. We will see when she comes back to Belgium”, said Mamer. “She is not in quarantine according to protocols in Belgium, she is in self-isolation, which is a voluntary measure”, he added, arguing that isolation in the Berlaymont building, where Ms von der Leyen has offices and accommodation, is “not at all simple” because of the numbers of people working there.
With the arrival of a second wave of Covid-19, remote working is de rigueur in the European Commission and the number of people who can physically attend high-level meetings has been reduced. European officials who usually work in institutions based in Belgium must work from home as much as possible, while remaining on Belgian territory. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)