How the Pandemic Strengthened the EU

Summary:

The Covid-19 pandemic increased the powers of the European Commission and changed the way the European Union worked in many policy areas, not only health. It also showed that the EU needed more effective tools to deal with public health emergencies; the European Health Union (EHU) was a big step in the right direction. The EHU was created by three regulations:

• Regulation on serious cross-border threats to health
• Regulation on extending mandate of the European Medicines Agency (EMA)
• Regulation on extending mandate of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)

The EU’s response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine has built on the lessons of the pandemic, with member-states giving the EU institutions more latitude to act quickly rather than laboriously crafting compromises. Other crises will arise: member-states should already be thinking about how the EU can leverage its regulatory and other powers to combat threats – whether viruses or foreign leaders – that do not respect Europe’s national borders

• Primary Source

• Alternative Source

ESO Records

European Commission: COM (2020) 724: Building a European Health Union: Reinforcing the EU’s resilience for cross-border health threats https://www.europeansources.info/record/building-a-european-health-union-reinforcing-the-eus-resilience-for-cross-border-health-threats/

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