About

The COVI Committee has been tasked with looking into how the Union's response to the pandemic and the lessons learned can contribute to future action. The work will focus on four key pillars: health, democracy and fundamental rights, societal and economic impact, and the EU and the World.

Given that the pandemic has not yet ended, the risk of finding Europe in a new crisis is real. In the past fifteen years, the EU has weathered a financial crisis, a refugee crisis, a pandemic, natural disasters, and now a war. Through these crises, we saw that the EU often lacked the necessary tools to act quickly. Member states agreed a common response when it was already too late, be it on the joint procurement of medical equipment, common approach to the refugee crisis or the deepening of the Energy Union.

This has brought the EU to the situation that it is in today, reacting to crises, but lacking the political mandate and capacity in preparing for them. This requires a fundamental change and a new dynamic.

The COVI committee aims to achieve this: building a Europe that is better prepared for future health crises by drawing lessons from the pandemic. Crisis increased social inequalities, affected the economy, democracy & fundamental rights, and international governance. The COVI will consider the impact of the pandemic on all aspects of society.

We will take stock of what we have learned over the past few years, and we will try to steer profound changes in Europe's crisis management, in order to ensure that for the next health crisis Europe's future leaders are better equipped.

During the next twelve-months, the COVI committee, with its 38 Members, will make use of various methods to analyse the impact and the response to the pandemic: it will hold hearings with experts, invite authorities, request documents and undertake missions when needed. The aim is to submit a final report with the 'lessons learned' and recommendations for the future.

You are kindly invited to follow our Committee's work through various channels provided on this site, including meeting documents, live video streaming, multimedia archive and our regular newsletter.

With my best wishes,

Kathleen VAN BREMPT

Chair