COVI calls for action - COVID-19 recommendations for the future 

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COVI 
 
 

On 12 June 2023, the Special Committee on the COVID-19 pandemic adopted its specific recommendations to address gaps and weaknesses in EU's response to the crisis.

In this background document you can find a short overview of the main calls for action for each pillar covered by the report: health, democracy and fundamental rights, social and economic impact, and global aspects related to the pandemic.

    • Commission to propose actions and instruments, Member States to invest more in healthcare, in order to reduce healthcare disparities, strengthen national public health and social care systems and enhance cross-border health cooperation
    • Commission to present legislative and regulatory measures to identify minimum basic healthcare services and minimum standards for quality healthcare to be ensured for all across the EU
    • EU to integrate ‘One Health’, as defined by WHO, in its public health policies and make the One Health approach a guiding principle in all public health policies initiatives and measures and in pandemic preparedness programs
    • Establish cross-sectoral health promotion and prevention programmes and a European cross-sectoral preventive-health approach in all policies
    • Commission and the ECDC to introduce surveillance plans on emerging health threats, including coordinated and systematic data collection
    • Member States to urgently carry out stress tests on national healthcare systems to identify weaknesses and ensure preparedness for a possible resurgence of COVID-19 and any future health crisis
    • Ensure the respect of existing EU legislation to guarantee quality medical products and that the transfer of liability from manufacturers to Member States does not become standard practice
    • Parliament to propose own legislative initiatives to increase EU competence in health, to improve its strategic open autonomy, to improve the resilience and quality of healthcare systems and services, to ensure equal, universal, affordable medical care, and foster transparency on public funding for health research and governance
    • Reduce the dependence on third countries trade partners of APIs, raw materials and key medicines and medical devices and act decisively in preventing drug shortages
    • Commission and Member States to establish a clear sustainable stockpiling strategy, with the aim of developing complementary EU and national medical stockpiles for pandemic preparedness and response, whilst avoiding waste
    • Address vaccine hesitancy and tackle misinformation by promoting public information and education
    • Communicate transparently on adverse reactions, as full transparency, fairness and solidarity would build trust in vaccination
    • Adopt a transparent policy for Advance Purchase Agreements and joint procurement
    • Commission to publish the non-redacted version of the purchase agreements for the general public after their respective termination dates, including all information of public interest, when legally possible
    • Better prepare joint procurement procedures for medicines and medical products; establish clear rules for negotiations with companies to avoid surplus vaccines and medical countermeasures; develop a clear list of criteria for joint procurement
    • EU and the Member States to ensure in future joint procurement contracts that manufacturers remain liable in line with EU product liability legislation
    • Commission to submit a proposal for the revision of transparency measures regulating the prices of medicinal products
    • Commission to make post-acute infection syndromes (PAIS) a priority and to develop an EU PAIS strategy, comparable to Europe’s beating cancer plan and the EU strategy on mental health, and address PAIS in the Global Health Strategy
    • Speed up the digitalisation of administrative services in the health sector and, wherever appropriate and feasible, the use of online healthcare services
    • Set up instruments and funding programmes in the health domain to fight cyber threats, hybrid attacks, external state-sponsored propaganda, and foreign interference
    • Create a comprehensive EU mental health strategy that focuses on youth mental health and integrates actions for all social groups, particularly the most vulnerable
    • Commission to propose legislation to tackle psychosocial risks at work and improve health and care professionals’ working conditions
    • Transform the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) into an independent EU agency with sufficient funding

    • Member States to ensure transparency when adopting measures in a crisis situation and to provide their citizens with comprehensive, up-to-date, precise and objective information and data
    • Base decisions on measures applied for tackling pandemics, especially when they entail a restriction of freedoms, on scientific criteria and the advice of scientific authorities in the field through formal, transparent decision-making process
    • Protect and ensure the right to information and freedom of expression, supporting media pluralism and independent journalism
    • Commission and Member States to intensify efforts in times of crisis to ensure that journalists can work safely, to recognise news media as an essential service and to improve the cooperation with the social media platforms in order to ensure that public debate is built on trust, transparency and correct information
    • Involve more closely civil society organisations, special interest groups and ethics committees in the design, implementation and monitoring of health measures, to safeguard fundamental rights
    • Ensure more coordination among EU institutions on adopting extraordinary measures and address digitalisation challenges
    • Commission and Member States to propose concrete measures to support and protect marginalised people and communities, minorities and disadvantaged people during time of crisis, both on the socio-economic level and in terms of social and cultural inclusion
    • Commission to exercise close scrutiny of national measures regarding internal border controls during health crises and to ensure that such controls comply with EU legislation and are a measure of last resort, proportionate and of limited duration
    • Harmonise possible future travel restrictions on EU level through an EU legislative procedure with a coordinated approach instead of non-binding Council and Commission recommendations
    • Commission and Member States to form a unified strategic approach to non-EU actors attempting to disrupt democratic processes in the EU during health or other crises
    • EU institutions and Member States to preserve the principles of good policymaking and respecting fundamental rights and the rule of law
    • Strengthen the parliamentary oversight both at EU and national level on the measures and legislation adopted in response to emergencies

    • Member States to use the full potential of the Recovery and Resilience Facility, including loans, to counter the effects of the pandemic and the challenges ahead
    • Commission to come up with a Care Strategy to address unpaid labour in the care sector
    • Commission to put forward proposals that set standards for teleworking conditions throughout the EU, with the aim of guaranteeing fair and appropriate working and employment conditions within the digital economy
    • Commission and Member States to support, strengthen and safeguard the single market
    • Commission and Member States to combat gender-based violence in all its forms and wherever it occurs, whether inside or outside the home or in the workplace
    • EU and Member States to step up their efforts to mainstream the gender perspective in all EU policies and national recovery plans
    • Member States to develop clear action plans for schools to tackle the effects the pandemic had on learning and learning results
    • Member States to include digital literacy in the curricula of all learning institutions and to provide the necessary training and equipment for teachers and educators
    • EU and Member States to integrate in their social protection systems and to invest in a health and care plan for meeting the needs of the growing elderly population
    • EU and Member States to invest in a disability-inclusive process of prevention, preparedness and response to crisis, which would anticipate the devastating impacts of future crises on disabled people

    • WTO to take greater action to ensure the free flow of supply chains and vaccine deliveries, notably as regards export restrictions
    • Commission to engage with vaccine-producing countries to rapidly eliminate export barriers and to replace its own export authorisation mechanism with export transparency requirements
    • Increase international investment and coordination for the scaling up of production of critical vaccine inputs such as disposables and active pharmaceutical ingredients in order to solve bottlenecks across vaccine value chains
    • EU to focus on open strategic autonomy, supporting global diversification and resilience of supply chains and reshoring production where needed to address high dependencies on third countries
    • EU to take a more strategic, assertive and effective role for in global health and to have a role of a formal observer at the WHO
    • Commission and Member States to advocate for transparency and inclusion standards in international platforms and to update their access policies and conditions in order to optimise supply to low and middle income countries
    • Commission and Member States to advocate in the WHO’s Pandemic Accord for a global commitment that aims to ensure sufficient financing for biomedical research and development (R&D), an enforceable and effective access and benefit sharing mechanism, create conditions for licensing government-funded R&D, encourage technology transfer, share intellectual property, data and knowledge needed for the production and supply of products, and streamline regulatory standards and procedures to market medical countermeasures
    • Strengthen simultaneously the obligations and enforceability of the International Health Regulations (IHR), while addressing the gaps (including funding, equity and global governance) through the new pandemic treaty
    • Commission and Member States to financially support increasing local and regional production of vaccines, and to encourage the transfer of knowledge and technologies and other essential health products, in low- and middle-income countries
    • Establish a globally balanced production capacity which would be able to rapidly adapt to the production of any vaccine required
    • EU to find a constructive solution on IP protection which provides adequate certainty and incentives for investments in R&D and should include licensing agreements in order to scale-up production
    • Medical product developers to share their intellectual property, knowledge, and know-how through global initiatives such as the WHO’s COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) in times of pandemics, epidemics, and endemics
    • European Commission to work with other WTO members to extend the MC12 TRIPS decision to therapeutics and diagnostics
    • Establish a new permanent Committee on Trade and Health at MC12 in order to assist governments with implementing existing exceptions and flexibilities in international trade law
    • Accelerate implementation of the existing action plans and specific global mechanisms for antimicrobial resistance surveillance, research and innovation and antimicrobial stewardship

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