The European Commission will enter into negotiations with the United States on behalf of the European Union on a non-binding instrument related to “a programme to defeat the global pandemic” of Covid-19, primarily by accelerating global vaccinations.
On 29 April, the EU institution received the written green light from the Member States’ ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) to open negotiations (see EUROPE 12941/20).
The joint EU-US declaration and/or transatlantic roadmap - the form that this instrument for administrative cooperation between health authorities will take - is intended to be adopted at a summit on Covid-19 to be hosted by the US and the German G7 presidency on 11 May in Washington.
Cooperation between HERA, the European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority, and the US Department of Health and Human Services would cover: - the provision of vaccines to low- and middle-income countries through the Covax facility; - supply chains; - research on therapeutic products.
By September 2021, the EU and the US had launched a transatlantic partnership to accelerate vaccination against Covid-19 and help vaccinate 70% of the world’s population by September 2022 (see EUROPE 12797/17). Last June, the G7 set itself the goal of ‘ending the pandemic by 2022’, considering that this required vaccinating ‘at least 60% of the world’s population’ (see EUROPE 12740/10). (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)