The European Affairs Ministers of the European Union countries met in person on Tuesday 25 January in Brussels for the first General Affairs Council under the French Presidency of the Council of the EU.
In particular, they devoted an item to the coordination of health measures related to the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. In a discussion that remained fairly general, they addressed the issue of vaccination campaigns and their acceleration.
The issue of the roll-out of a fourth dose of vaccine will be specifically addressed by the Health Ministers. For both the French Presidency and the European Commission, this point still requires scientific clarification.
Member States agreed on the need to coordinate their actions at European level, “including in those Member States with stricter measures in place”, according to an EU source.
Spain has indicated its willingness to move from treating Covid-19 as a pandemic to treating it as an endemic disease.
Furthermore, the Ministers shared their concerns about disinformation and mistrust related to Covid-19 vaccines. At this stage, they have mainly exchanged best practice for dealing with these phenomena.
Team Europe. On the international solidarity front, European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič welcomed the adoption of new recommendations on a coordinated approach to facilitate free movement during the pandemic (see other news). He announced that the Commission would submit a package of specific proposals for the EU-Africa Summit on 17-18 February in Brussels.
The package will consist of initiatives to accelerate vaccine deployment and increase immunisation rates in Africa. The Commission will also work on flagship initiatives to support local production of Covid-19 vaccines and medicines, to assist in the development of pandemic capacity and pandemic prevention structures, and to support the digitalisation of health on the African continent.
Member States also stressed that the EU had done a lot of international solidarity work in the context of the pandemic. Although more needs to be done, the EU is not communicating enough about its achievements, they said. (Original version in French by Émilie Vanderhulst)