Monday

5th Jun 2023

Interview

2020: EU solidarity tested in face of Covid-19 pandemic

  • 'This is a permanent battle,' warned Charles Michel, president of the European Council - adding the pandemic has revealed the need to increase the role of the EU in healthcare (Photo: European Union)

Since Covid-19 was first recorded late in 2019 in China, the virus has quickly spread around the world - upending everyday life and testing the world's response in a global crisis.

The pandemic rapidly revealed that the EU and its member states were not prepared for a medical and humanitarian crisis of such dimensions.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

When decisive and coordinated action from EU institutions and member states was most needed to respond to the first outbreaks, particularly the one in Italy, the bloc struggled to create a common and timely response to the pandemic.

This is partly explained by the fact that, under its treaties, the EU still has no direct or shared competencies in the area of health.

As a result, some member states introduced unilateral measures, such as export bans on some medical supplies or the closure of borders - revealing a glaring lack of European solidarity during the first months of the pandemic.

"EU leaders took some decisions that were not really in line with the European perspective," the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, told EUobserver, referring to the export bans of certain medical gear seen in Germany, France, and the Czech Republic back in March.

"At the beginning, some countries thought that it was possible to win the battle against the virus at the national level. But in only a few days, they all understood that this was not the right approach and more cooperation was needed," Michel added.

In a quick U-turn after these dark early days, EU countries started sharing medical equipment and doctors with other member states, jointly repatriating EU citizens from third countries and assisting neighbouring countries financially.

Without (yet) a safe and efficient Covid-19 vaccine, member states have been following two main strategies to fight the virus: imposing very restrictive measures (with massive socio-economic effects), such as lockdowns, and trying to keep the virus under control by testing, tracing and isolating.

"This is a permanent battle," Michel said, adding that the pandemic has revealed a need to increase the responsibilities of the EU in the healthcare sector.

"Now, there is more political will to work towards the European level [in the healthcare sector] - but aiming to have one European model for health systems is not realistic," he added.

While the global understanding about this new respiratory disease has steadily increased since the first outbreaks, how effectively Europe is responding to the current much-feared second wave of Covid-19 remains unclear - especially amid fears over 'vaccine nationalism', or the seizing of the first batches of doses by richer states that can pay the most or the quickest.

Meanwhile, the burden on healthcare systems all across the bloc, as a result of the surge in coronavirus infections, has triggered new nationwide lockdowns and restrictive measures in nearly all EU member states.

However, the second wave has also brought fresh hopes for an effective vaccine.

"Next year, we will probably have a vaccine, or several vaccines, for Covid-19, but it is quite certain that vaccination will take time, so now the priority is to make more progress in testing, tracing, and isolation while improving cross-border cooperation," said Michel.

The European Commission, on behalf of member states, has signed deals with companies such as Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Sanofi-GSK and Johnson & Johnson for their potential Covid-19 vaccines, while also negotiating with other pharmaceutical firms.

But EU leaders still have to agree on common criteria for the deployment of the vaccines (when a safe and effective shot is available), to ensure a fair distribution of vaccines both within the EU and beyond.

"This is an issue of concern. We need to work on this strategy in order to avoid a political battle in the next months that will make Europe look ridiculous," Michel warned.

There is an opportunity to make Europe stronger, "if we find the way to tackle the question of vaccines together," the Belgian politician added.

"Nevertheless, it is clear that even if we solve the problem of Covid-19 in some countries in the world, it will never be solved until we make sure that all over the world we can keep the virus under control," he made clear.

The pandemic, meanwhile, has also increased ongoing tensions between China and the US, resulting in a new geopolitical environment in which the role of the EU is still to be finally determined.

However, for the European Council president, the EU now has the opportunity to develop a so-called "strategic autonomy," transforming the bloc's economic and social model to make Europe "less dependent [on third countries] and more influential" in the global context.

"We want an open economy with international exchanges, but we need to rebalance the international relationships taking into consideration more fairness, and [a] level playing field," he added.

In its history, the EU has survived many crises and, undoubtedly, it will also survive the negative socio-economic consequences of Covid-19.

However, a key question remains: will the EU be able to establish timely 'solidarity' responses to future crises, in the face of such large-scale disruptions to life and economies?

This article first appeared in EUobserver's latest magazine, 20 years of European journalism & history, which you can now read in full online.

Infographic

Coronavirus: Will a second wave divide Europe again?

Experts are now warning of the "very serious" surge in Covid-19 cases in Europe - where new weekly cases exceede those reported in March. The worst-hit countries are Spain and France - while Italy is resisting the much-feared second wave.

EU waters down Covid-19 traffic-light travel zones concept

EU countries are set to adopt a 'traffic-light' colour-coding system for coronavirus-affected areas. But member states will have the possibility to set their own strategies, on negative Covid-19 tests or different quarantine periods, for orange and red zones.

Major regional discrepancies in Covid-19 response, report finds

EU regions were unevenly hit by the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report. The most economically hard-hit regions were those under strict lockdown measures for the longest - not necessarily those with the highest death-rates or most cases detected.

EU tells China to let in WHO team to study Covid origins

The EU has demanded China cooperate with the international community to understand better the pandemic, after Chinese officials blocked the arrival of a group of World Health Organization (WHO) researchers investigating the origins of Covid-19 in Wuhan.

EU agency authorises Moderna vaccine amid blame-game

The European Medicines Agency has authorised the use of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by US company Moderna - while the EU is involved in a blame-game over a sluggish vaccine rollout across member states.

20 years of EUobserver

Our special anniversary magazine gives an overview of the major events of these past 20 years - and, for every event, we talked to one of the key players. It makes this magazine a document of recent EU history.

Latest News

  1. Subcontracting rules allow firms to bypass EU labour rights
  2. Asylum and SLAPP positions in focus This WEEK
  3. Spanish PM to delay EU presidency speech due to snap election
  4. EU data protection chief launches Frontex investigation
  5. Madrid steps up bid to host EU anti-money laundering hub
  6. How EU leaders should deal with Chinese government repression
  7. MEPs pile on pressure for EU to delay Hungary's presidency
  8. IEA: World 'comfortably' on track for renewables target

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  2. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  3. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics
  6. EFBWWEFBWW calls for the EC to stop exploitation in subcontracting chains

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. InformaConnecting Expert Industry-Leaders, Top Suppliers, and Inquiring Buyers all in one space - visit Battery Show Europe.
  2. EFBWWEFBWW and FIEC do not agree to any exemptions to mandatory prior notifications in construction
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic and Baltic ways to prevent gender-based violence
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Economic gender equality now! Nordic ways to close the pension gap
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Pushing back the push-back - Nordic solutions to online gender-based violence
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: The Nordics are ready to push for gender equality

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us