The Council of the EU is preparing to report that it is very satisfied with the EU’s global response to the Covid-19 pandemic under the ‘Team Europe’ approach, mobilising funds from the EU, its Member States and financial institutions (EIB and EBRD) in vulnerable non-Member States.
A draft conclusion, as seen by EUROPE, affirms the EU Council’s determination to continue along this path and to increase the visibility of ‘Team Europe’, seen as the flagship of these joint efforts.
This text states that ‘Team Europe’ contributes to the promotion of EU values and interests worldwide and that its interventions aim at a sustainable global recovery to “build back better and greener”, to achieve the UN’s Agenda 2030 and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as the objectives of the Paris Agreement on climate.
“Team Europe is committed to improving global health in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond. Ensuring rapid, fair and equitable global access to safe, affordable and effective vaccines, therapies and diagnostics against Covid-19 – as a global public good – is essential”, the text states. The project underlines that the EU and its Member States are at the heart of the accelerator for access to Covid-19 tools and its device, the COVAX Alliance, for which an additional €100 million have recently been announced by the European Commission (see EUROPE 12600/25).
The EU Council will invite all Team Europe members to “increase the visibility of their common commitment as Team Europe in a strategic way, in particular by strengthening common messages at all levels and making extensive use of Team Europe’s new visual identity”. It is also expected to invite Team Europe to continue to respond together to the crisis, taking full account of the link between humanitarian aid, development and peace and the integrated approach of these three strands. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)