[Interview] 2020: EU solidarity examined in face of Covid-19 pandemic

When decisive and coordinated motion from EU establishments and member states was most wanted to answer the primary outbreaks, notably the one in Italy, the bloc struggled to create a typical and well timed response to the pandemic.

This is partly defined by the truth that, below its treaties, the EU nonetheless has no direct or shared competencies within the space of well being.

As a end result, some member states launched unilateral measures, reminiscent of export bans on some medical provides or the closure of borders – revealing a obvious lack of European solidarity in the course of 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, advised EUobserver, referring to the export bans of sure medical gear seen in Germany, France, and the Czech Republic again 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 fast U-turn after these darkish early days, EU international locations began sharing medical tools and medical doctors with different member states, collectively repatriating EU residents from third international locations and helping neighbouring international locations financially.

Without (but) a protected and environment friendly Covid-19 vaccine, member states have been following two fundamental methods to struggle the virus: imposing very restrictive measures (with large socio-economic results), reminiscent of lockdowns, and attempting to maintain the virus below management by testing, tracing and isolating.

“This is a permanent battle,” Michel mentioned, including that the pandemic has revealed a necessity to extend the duties of the EU within 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 worldwide understanding about this new respiratory illness has steadily elevated for the reason that first outbreaks, how successfully Europe is responding to the present much-feared second wave of Covid-19 stays unclear – particularly amid fears over ‘vaccine nationalism’, or the seizing of the primary batches of doses by richer states that may pay essentially the most or the quickest.

Meanwhile, the burden on healthcare programs all throughout the bloc, on account of the surge in coronavirus infections, has triggered new nationwide lockdowns and restrictive measures in practically all EU member states.

However, the second wave has additionally introduced recent hopes for an efficient 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,” mentioned Michel.

The European Commission, on behalf of member states, has signed offers with corporations reminiscent of Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Sanofi-GSK and Johnson & Johnson for his or her potential Covid-19 vaccines, whereas additionally negotiating with different pharmaceutical corporations.

But EU leaders nonetheless should agree on frequent standards for the deployment of the vaccines (when a protected and efficient shot is out there), to make sure a good distribution of vaccines each throughout the EU and past.

“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 a chance 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, in the meantime, has additionally elevated ongoing tensions between China and the US, leading to a brand new geopolitical atmosphere through which the position of the EU continues to be to be lastly decided.

However, for the European Council president, the EU now has the chance to develop a so-called “strategic autonomy,” reworking the bloc’s financial and social mannequin to make Europe “less dependent [on third countries] and more influential” within the international 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 historical past, the EU has survived many crises and, undoubtedly, it is going to additionally survive the unfavorable socio-economic penalties of Covid-19.

However, a key query stays: will the EU be capable to set up well timed ‘solidarity’ responses to future crises, within the face of such large-scale disruptions to life and economies?