30 March 2020 Today, the Commission has issued new practical advice to ensure that mobile workers within the EU, in particular those in critical occupations to fight the coronavirus pandemic, can reach their workplace. This includes but is not limited to those working in the health care and food sectors, and other essential services like childcare, elderly care, and critical staff for utilities. Together with the Guidance on the implementation of the temporary restriction on non-essential travel to the EU also issued...

30 March 2020 | 13:15 The EU is taking swift action to make available money to help tackle the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Council today adopted two legislative acts to quickly release funding from the EU budget for tackling the COVID-19 crisis. One of the acts amends the rules of the structural and investment funds, while the other extends the scope of the EU Solidarity Fund. The Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative will give member states access to €37 billion of cohesion money to strengthen healthcare systems,...

March 25, 2020 Yesterday, the Commission adopted decisions on harmonised standards which will allow manufacturers to place on the market high performing devices to protect patients, health care professionals and citizens in general. The standards will facilitate a faster and less expensive conformity assessment procedure. The revised harmonised standards play a pivotal role in the current coronavirus pandemic because they relate to critical devices* such as: medical face masks surgical drapes, gowns and suits washer-disinfectors sterilisation Stella Kyriakides, Commissioner for Health said: “We must...

March 19, 2020 With the outbreak of COVID-19, we have seen the proliferation of significant quantities of news, myths, and disinformation about it – coming from various sources both within and outside of the European Union. The World Health Organisation has stated that the outbreak of and response to COVID-19 has been accompanied by a massive “infodemic”, which the WHO describes as an over-abundance of information – some accurate and some not – rendering it difficult to find trustworthy sources...

23/03/2020 - 18:22 COVID-19 will reshape our world. We don’t yet know when the crisis will end. But we can be sure that by the time it does, our world will look very different. How different will depend on the choices we make today. “COVID-10 will reshape our world. We don’t yet know when the crisis will end. But we can be sure that by the time it does, our world will look very different.” – Josep Borrell,  The COVID-19 crisis is...

Commits policy support, saying efforts must have “Ambition of Marshall Plan, vision of New Deal” 21/03/2020 - OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría called today for sweeping joint action by governments to defeat the health, economic, and social threats of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.  In calling on governments to better coordinate their efforts, Gurría announced that the OECD would channel its efforts into immediate support to policymakers combating the crisis, launching a new online policy hub immediately. “The coronavirus pandemic is a public health...

The European Parliament is mobilising additional funds to help the EU countries hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic. In an extraordinary plenary session on Thursday 26 March, MEPs will vote on a European Commission proposal to allow member states to request financial assistance from the EU Solidarity Fund in their fight against Covid-19. The proposal is part of a set of EU measures to mobilise all existing budget resources to help EU countries tackle the pandemic. The Commission proposes to broaden the Solidarity Fund’s scope...

Last Updated: March 19, 2020 As announced by Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on March 4, 2020, The IMF stands ready to support vulnerable countries with different lending facilities, including through rapid-disbursing emergency financing, which could amount up to $50 billion for low-income and emerging markets. Of this, $10 billion is available at zero interest for the poorest members through the Rapid Credit Facility. What lending instruments does the IMF have to provide emergency financing to address coronavirus? The IMF has two facilities—the Rapid Credit...