Following European leaders the day before, EU health ministers will discuss the Covid-19 pandemic via videoconference on Friday, 30 October. Despite the gravity of the situation, the German Presidency of the EU Council has planned a lighter agenda for this two-and-a-half-hour meeting. Two topics are on the agenda: the reform of the World Health Organization (WHO) and restrictions of free movement during the pandemic.
The meeting will open with a speech by Director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) Andrea Ammon reviewing the pandemic’s development. As of 28 October, the organisation reported 6.4 million cases and 213,000 deaths in the European Union/European Economic Area and the United Kingdom.
The main item on the agenda concerns strengthening the WHO. After an exchange of views, the ministers will be invited to adopt conclusions that aim to create a common position among EU Member States during the next session of the World Health Assembly in mid-November (see EUROPE 12586/3). “The time has come to send a strong signal during the assembly”, declared a senior European diplomat, for whom the conclusions represent a “good balance between the positions of the Member States that wanted to wait for the results of the ongoing survey on the WHO’s management of the epidemic and those that are more ambitious”.
An ‘any other business’ item concerning restrictions of free movement is also scheduled on the agenda. More specifically, the German Presidency is expected to inform ministers of the EU Council’s recommendation regarding a coordinated approach in response to the Covid-19 pandemic (see EUROPE 12580/6).
Will there be other items on the agenda commensurate with the results garnered by EU leaders the day before? “There is a real need for cooperation and coordination among Member States”, replied the senior diplomat, indicating, nevertheless, that the two meetings were completely separate and that no other items were on the official agenda. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)