Covid-19 pandemic - why was the ECDC so ineffective?

The Covid-19 crisis has revealed that the current European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has neither the funding, the staff or – perhaps most importantly – the authority to lead an effective response to a pandemic in Europe.

As Covid-19 took hold across Europe, the Stockholm-based ECDC was unable to coordinate a united response, crucial to combat the pandemic. Health is a core responsibility of member states, and the ECDC's powers were too limited to make an effecti...