ENVI supports EU response to Covid19
As the committee responsible for public health, ENVI has been supporting the action of the European Commission, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and Member States in the fight against the Covid19 pandemic. ENVI Members have been debating the EU response to the novel coronavirus at their February and March meetings.
In agreement with ENVI Coordinators, ENVI Chair wrote to the Commission and the Croatian Presidency to reiterate the Parliament's call for a stronger role for the ECDC in order to ensure an effective and harmonised EU response in case of infectious diseases.
ENVI coordinators deem it essential that the competences of the ECDC are strengthened. Coordinators regret that in the period 2013-2018 the number of full time employees in the ECDC was reduced by 20.
In the past legislature, ENVI negotiators secured an ambitious revision of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) which is proving a useful instrument in the EU's current response to this unexpected crisis. The Commission is using the provisions of rescEU within the UCPM for the purchase of essential medical countermeasures which will then be put at the disposal of the most affected Member States.