
Long-term resilience of the EU required
Alliance of six EU countries exerts pressure on EU Commission.
IF – 06/2020
On 9 June, six Member
States wrote to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. They believe that
the current situation within some Member States has raised questions regarding
Europe’s preparedness for another pandemic. The countries are calling on the
Commission to ensure the EU’s resilience to future public health crises in Europe.
They are advocating a common European approach to ensuring that measures are in
place to protect the EU against a new pandemic.
The letter
was initiated by Denmark, with France, Germany, Spain, Belgium and Poland
co-signing. The six countries are calling for rapid solutions and further
action in various policy areas, such as health policy, industrial policy,
research, digitalisation and EU funding, in order to be better prepared for a
second outbreak of the virus and any future pandemic crises.
The letter
proposes the following measures to strengthen the EU:
- create
a stockpile of medicines, personal protective equipment and medical devices- develop
incentives to transfer the production of active ingredients, raw materials and
medicines to Europe
- review
existing mechanisms such as the European Civil Protection Mechanism and the
Joint Procurement Agreement
- expand
the mandate for the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)
- coordinate
the development of a corona vaccine using EU funds
What
remains unresolved is the long-term financing of the proposed measures and
coordination with other policy areas, which must be adapted and take second
place to the corona measures. At present, there are only six Member States in
the alliance, but others from the EU-27 could join. It is clear that health
policy at European level has gained in importance.
Please find the letter attached: