Skeda ta’ żmien tal-azzjoni tal-2020

The Commission adopted a proposal on a common framework for the use, validation and mutual recognition of rapid antigen tests. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, diagnostic testing has been rapidly evolving, demonstrating its central role in outbreak control. The Commission has also signed a framework contract with Abbott and Roche allowing the purchase of over 20 million rapid antigen tests for up to €100 million, financed by the Emergency Support Instrument. From early 2021, these tests will be made available to EU countries, as part of the EU strategy to COVID-19 testing.

The Commission welcomed the political agreement reached between the European Parliament and the Council on the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). The RRF is the key instrument at the heart of NextGenerationEU, the EU's plan for emerging stronger from the current crisis. It will make €672.5 billion in loans and grants available to support reforms and investments of EU countries.

The Commission welcomed the Council decision to adopt the next long-term EU budget for the period 2021-2027. With this decision, all the conditions have now been fulfilled for the next multiannual financial framework for 2021-2027 to be in place as of 1 January 2021. As a result, €1.074 trillion [in 2018 prices] will become available for beneficiaries of EU funding during the next seven years.

The Commission concluded exploratory talks with the pharmaceutical company Novavax with a view to purchasing its potential vaccine against COVID-19. The envisaged contract with Novavax would provide for the possibility for all EU countries to purchase 100 million doses, and they could further purchase up to 100 million more doses.

The Commission welcomed the adoption of important new measures which will enable Member States to relieve EU hospitals, medical practitioners and individuals of Value-Added Tax (VAT) when acquiring coronavirus vaccines and testing kits. The new rules should give better and cheaper access to the tools needed to prevent, detect and treat coronavirus.

The Commission adopted a strategy for sustainably managing the pandemic over the winter period. The strategy recommends continued vigilance and caution throughout the winter period and into 2021 when the roll out of safe and effective vaccines will occur. The Commission will then provide further guidance on a gradual and coordinated lifting of containment measures.

The Commission has disbursed €8.5 billion in the third instalment of financial support to five Member States under the SURE instrument. Belgium has received EUR 2 billion, Hungary €200 million, Portugal E€3 billion, Romania EUR 3 billion and Slovakia  €300 million. This support, in the form of loans granted on favourable terms, will assist Member States in addressing sudden increases in public expenditure to preserve employment. With this disbursement, 15 Member States have received around EUR 40 billion under the EU SURE instrument between the end of October and the end of November.

The Commission adopted a recommendation on the use of rapid antigen tests for the diagnosis of COVID-19. This follows the Commission's recommendation on 28 October to ensure a common approach and more efficient testing strategies across the EU. It builds on the guidance developed with Member States input and expert advice from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

The Commission has disbursed EUR 14 billion to nine EU countries in the second instalment of financial support to Member States under the SURE instrument. Croatia has received e510 million, Cyprus e250 million, Greece €2 billion, Italy an additional E€6.5 billion, Latvia e120 million, Lithuania €300 million, Malta €120 million, Slovenia e200 million and Spain an additional €4 billion.

The Commission approved a fifth contract with the European pharmaceutical company CureVac, which provides for the initial purchase of 225 million doses on behalf of all EU Member States, plus an option to request up to a further 180 million doses, to be supplied once a vaccine has proven to be safe and effective against COVID-19.

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen welcomed COVID-19 scientific advisors from EU Member States to the first meeting of the EU scientific advice platform on COVID-19. The platform will facilitate more co-ordinated scientific advice on the approach to Member State COVID-19 public health measures across the EU.

The EU has announced it will contribute an additional €100 million in grant funding to support the COVAX Facility to secure access to the future COVID-19 vaccine in low and middle-income countries. COVAX is the vaccines pillar of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, a global collaboration to accelerate the development, production, and equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines. The funds will complement the EUR 400 million in guarantees the EU already committed for COVAX, making the Union one of the leading donors.

The European Commission took the first steps towards building the European Health Union.  Drawing lessons from the current crisis, new proposals should ensure stronger preparedness and response during the current and future health crises. They include actions to strengthen the EU's health security framework, and to reinforce the crisis preparedness and response role of key EU agencies.

Fourth contract with pharmaceutical companies to ensure access to a potential vaccine

The Commission approved a fourth contract with pharmaceutical companies BioNTech and Pfizer, which provides for the initial purchase of 200 million doses on behalf of all EU Member States, plus an option to request up to a further 100 million doses, to be supplied once a vaccine has proven to be safe and effective against COVID-19.

The Commission welcomed the agreement between the European Parliament and EU Member States in the Council on Europe's next long-term budget and NextGenerationEU. Once adopted, the package of a total of €1.8 trillionwill help rebuild a post-COVID-19 Europe. It will be greener, more digital, more resilient and better fit for the current and forthcoming challenges.

Following a request for assistance from Czechia, the EU has immediately sent a first batch of 30 ventilators from rescEU - the common European reserve of medical equipment set up earlier this year to help countries affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

The European Commission issued a €17 billion inaugural social bond under the EU SURE instrument to help protect jobs and keep people in work. The issuing consisted of two bonds, with €10 billion due for repayment in October 2030 and €7 billion due for repayment in 2040. There was very strong investor interest in this highly rated instrument, and the bonds were more than 13 times oversubscribed, resulting in favourable pricing terms for both bonds.

To exploit the full potential of contact tracing and warning apps to break the chain of coronavirus infections across borders, the Commission, at the invitation by EU Member States, has set up an EU-wide system to ensure interoperability – a so-called ‘gateway'. After a successful pilot phase, the system went live on 19 October with the first wave of national apps now linked through this service: Germany's Corona-Warn-App, Ireland's COVID tracker, and Italy's immuni.

The European Union disbursed €25 million of budget support for The Gambia's response to the coronavirus pandemic. As part of the Team Europe global package, these funds contribute to the recovery from the pandemic and also support the transition towards democracy and medium-term development objectives.

Ahead of the meeting of European leaders, the Commission presented the key elements to be taken into consideration by Member States for their COVID-19 vaccination strategies in order to prepare the EU and its citizens for when a safe and effective vaccine is available, as well as priority groups to consider for vaccination first.

The Commission approved a third contract with a pharmaceutical company, Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson. The contract will allow EU countries to purchase vaccines for 200 million people once the vaccine has proven to be safe and effective against COVID-19. They will also have the possibility to purchase vaccines for an additional 200 million people. The Commission has already signed a contract with AstraZeneca and with Sanofi-GSK and concluded successful exploratory talks with CureVac, BioNTech-Pfizer and Moderna.

As part of the EU's global coronavirus response, an EU humanitarian air bridge operation with three flights to Lima, Peru delivered more than 4 tonnes of life-saving materials to humanitarian organisations active in the country. The EU has also announced €30.5 million in humanitarian assistance to support the most vulnerable in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2020.

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the Director General of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, co-hosted the first meeting of the High Level Facilitation Council, leading the work of the global collaborative framework Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (the ACT-A) to speed up the development and deployment of vaccines, tests and treatments against COVID-19, as well as to improve health systems.

The Commission concluded exploratory talks with BioNTech-Pfizer to purchase a potential vaccine against COVID-19. BioNTech-Pfizer is the sixth company with which the Commission has concluded talks, following Sanofi-GSK, Johnson & Johnson, CureVac and Moderna. The first contract, signed with AstraZeneca, entered into force on 27 August.

As part of the EU's global coronavirus response, an EU Humanitarian Air Bridge operation consisting of two flights to Venezuela has concluded after delivering a total of 82.5 tonnes of life-saving material to supply humanitarian partners in the field. The first flight departed on 19 August from Madrid, Spain to Caracas, Venezuela, while the second flight followed on 21 August. These EU-funded flights are part of the ongoing Humanitarian Air Bridge operations to critical areas of the world.

The Commission proposed the extension of the 2020 European Capitals of Culture year until 30 April 2021 for Rijeka (Croatia) and Galway (Ireland). The Commission also proposed to postpone the year in which Novi Sad (Serbia) is due to host a European Capital of Culture, from 2021 to 2022, and the year in which Timisoara (Romania) and Elefsina (Greece) will hold the title, from 2021 to 2023. Since the onset of the coronavirus crisis, the Commission has been in close contact with the teams of all European Capitals of Culture from 2020 to 2023, with a view to better understanding the impact on the delivery and preparation of current and upcoming European Capitals of Culture.

The Commission has reached a first agreement with the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to purchase a potential vaccine against COVID-19 as well as to donate to lower and middle income countries or re-direct to other European countries. This agreement represents the basis for a contractual framework for the purchase of 300 million doses of the vaccine, with an option to purchase 100 million more, on behalf of EU Member States.

Following the first positive steps with Sanofi-GSK on 31 July, the Commission concluded further exploratory talks with Johnson & Johnson to purchase a potential vaccine against COVID-19. The envisaged contract would provide for the possibility for all EU Member States to purchase the vaccine. It is anticipated that, once the vaccine has proven to be safe and effective, the Commission would have a contractual framework in place for the initial purchase of 200 million vaccine doses on behalf of all EU Member States, with an option to purchase an additional 200 million doses.

The Commission will support 23 new research projects with EUR 128 million under Horizon 2020, the EU’s research and innovation programme. The funding, which is part of the Commission’s EUR 1.4 billion pledge to the Coronavirus Global Response Initiative, launched by President Ursula von der Leyen in May 2020, will enable researchers to address the pandemic and its consequences by strengthening the industrial capacity to manufacture and deploy readily available solutions, develop medical technologies and digital tools, improve understanding of behavioural and socio-economic impacts of the pandemic, and to learn from large groups of patients (cohorts) across Europe. These research actions complement earlier efforts to develop diagnostics, treatments and vaccines, and are the result of the second emergency request for expressions of interest, launched by the Commission on 19 May.

The European Commission launched a call for expressions of interest for thematic partnerships to pilot interregional innovation projects that support the response and recovery following the coronavirus pandemic. The aim of the call is to help regions grasp the opportunities emerging from the crisis, develop resilience and build on green and digital transformation for the recovery of the most affected sectors, such as health and tourism.

The Commission adopted a Capital Markets Recovery Package, as part of the Commission's overall coronavirus recovery strategy. These measures aim to make it easier for capital markets to support European businesses to recover from the crisis.  The package proposes targeted changes to capital market rules, which will encourage greater investments in the economy, allow for the rapid re-capitalisation of companies and increase banks' capacity to finance the recovery.

After four days of negotiations, EU leaders successfully agreed on the recovery plan for Europe. More than 50% of the long-term EU budget and Next Generation EU – a total of some €1,8 trillion - will support modern policies and set Europe on path to a sustainable and resilient recovery.

The Commission is providing €64.7 million in humanitarian aid for countries in the southern Africa region to help support people in need dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, extreme weather conditions such as persistent drought in the region and other crises.

The Commission presented Guidelines to ensure the protection of seasonal workers in the EU in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. Guidance is given to national authorities, labour inspectorates, and social partners on how to guarantee the rights, health and safety of seasonal workers, and to ensure that seasonal workers are aware of their rights.

The Commission presented immediate short-term measures to strengthen EU health preparedness for potential future COVID-19 outbreaks. They range from actions in testing and contact tracing, improved public health surveillance and widened access to medical countermeasures. It also envisages measures on healthcare surge capacity, non-pharmaceutical countermeasures, support to minorities and vulnerable persons, and activities to reduce the burden of seasonal flu.

The EU will provide €24 million in humanitarian assistance for the most vulnerable people in Uganda in 2020, with a special focus on refugees and their host communities. In addition, the EU has also channelled €1 million to aid organisations in Uganda to support the coronavirus preparedness and control measures, in line with the national response plan.

The Commission adopted an additional package of exceptional measures to support the wine sector, one of the hardest hit agri-food sectors in the coronavirus crisis. These new measures include the temporary authorisation for operators to self-organise market measures, the increase of the EU's contribution for wine national support programmes, and the introduction of advance payments for crisis distillation and storage.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and CureVac, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of transformative medicines, entered into a €75 million loan agreement to support the company's ongoing development of vaccines against infectious diseases, including its vaccine candidate CVnCoV aimed at preventing SARS-CoV-2 infections.

The Council adopted an amendment to the Directive on administrative cooperation in the area of taxation allowing member states an option to defer by up to 6 months the time limits for the filing and exchange of the following information: automatic exchanges of information on financial accounts of which the beneficiaries are tax residents in another member state, and reportable cross-border tax planning arrangements.

On 24 June 2020, the second of two EU Humanitarian Air Bridge flights arrived in Sudan, helping humanitarian workers and essential supplies reach people in need and supporting the coronavirus response in the country. This fully EU-funded Humanitarian Air Bridge flight to Sudan was made possible through a coordinated Team Europe approach, bringing together the European Union, Sweden, France and the Humanitarian Logistics Network.

As part of the European Union's response to the COVID-19 crisis in Africa, the European Commission has decided to grant €54 million to the Central African Republic to help the government shore up public expenditure negatively affected by the fight against the virus. The Commission has also on 17 June announced a €60 million package to help tackle the health and socio-economic impact of the pandemic, in support of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development in its mandate to coordinate responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Horn of Africa.

EU countries can now apply for additional funding via the Emergency Support Instrument to transport essential goods, medical teams and patients affected by the coronavirus. This comes in addition to support already available via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism and deliveries of protective equipment through rescEU. On 18 June, a pilot operation has successfully delivered over seven tonnes of personal protective equipment to Bulgaria, including over 500,000 protective masks, purchased by Bulgaria with transport costs covered by the EU.

The Commission presented a European strategy to accelerate the development, manufacturing and deployment of vaccines against COVID-19. An effective and safe vaccine against the virus is our best bet to achieve a permanent solution to the pandemic. With this strategy, the Commission will support efforts to accelerate the development and availability of safe and effective vaccines in a timeframe between 12 and 18 months, if not earlier.

• Watch President’s von der Leyen's video message on the EU Vaccines Strategy

The Commission launched ‘Re-open EU’, a web platform that contains essential information allowing a safe relaunch of free movement and tourism across Europe. To help people confidently plan their travel and holidays during the summer and beyond, the platform will provide real-time information on borders, available means of transport, travel restrictions, public health and safety measures, as well as other practical information for travellers.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and immunotherapy company BioNTech SE signed a €100 million financing agreement to support the development of BNT162, the company’s COVID-19 vaccine programme. BioNTech is the first European company to enter clinical testing, having started a clinical trial in Germany in April and a further clinical trial in the United States at the beginning of May. The EIB financing is backed by both Horizon2020 InnovFin and the European Fund for Strategic Investments.

The Commission recommended to Schengen Member States and Schengen Associated States to lift internal border controls by 15 June 2020 and to prolong the temporary restriction on non-essential travel into the EU until 30 June 2020. It also set out an approach to progressively lifting the restriction afterwards.

The coronavirus pandemic has been accompanied by a massive wave of false or misleading information, including attempts by foreign actors to influence EU citizens and debates. In the Joint Communication, the Commission and the EU High Representative analysed the immediate response and proposed concrete actions that can be quickly set in motion to fight disinformation around the coronavirus pandemic.

As part of the EU's global response to the coronavirus outbreak, the EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis has mobilised an additional € 55 million for refugees from Syria and vulnerable persons in Jordan and Lebanon to fight the pandemic. It will provide critical and targeted support in key areas such as health, water, sanitation and hygiene. The newly adopted package brings the total assistance mobilised through the EU Trust Fund to over €2.2 billion since 2015, doubling the target originally set.

The Commission has awarded nearly €166 million via the European Innovation Council Accelerator Pilot to 36 companies set to combat the coronavirus pandemic. In addition, over €148 million will be granted to another 36 companies set to contribute to the Recovery plan for Europe, bringing the total investment from Horizon 2020, the EU's research and innovation programme, to €314 million in this round.

The EU Humanitarian Air Bridge is operating three flights to the Democratic Republic of Congo, carrying on board humanitarian workers and essential supplies to help the country tackle the coronavirus pandemic. Since the beginning of May, the EU has organised four other Humanitarian Air Bridge flights - three to the Central African Republic and one to São Tomé e Príncipe. Further flights are planned to Africa, but also to other regions with high humanitarian needs.

On the occasion of the Global Vaccine Summit, the Commission announced a pledge of €300 million to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, for the period 2021–2025. It will help immunise 300 million children around the world and finance vaccine stockpiles to shield against outbreaks of infectious diseases.

• Video message by President von der Leyen for the Global Vaccine Summit 2020

The Commission announced an additional €50 million in humanitarian aid to help respond to the dramatic increase in humanitarian needs caused by the Coronavirus pandemic globally. This funding will help vulnerable people facing major humanitarian crises, notably in the Sahel and Lake Chad region, the Central African Republic, the Great Lakes region in Africa, Eastern Africa, Syria, Yemen, Palestine and Venezuela, as well as the Rohingya.

One of the 18 projects, which were recently selected to receive funding of €48.2 million from Horizon 2020 to develop diagnostics, treatments, vaccines and preparedness actions is already delivering positive results. Researchers involved with the “HG nCoV19 test” project have obtained approval to put a new rapid point-of-care diagnostic for COVID-19 on the market. Bringing together public and private organisations from Ireland, Italy, the United Kingdom and China, the “HG nCoV19 test” project developed a new portable diagnostic system to detect viral infection that gives accurate and reliable results in 30 minutes.

The Commission has mobilised another €122 million from the Horizon 2020 programme for urgently needed research into the coronavirus. The new call for expressions of interest, open until 11 June, contributes to the Commission's €1.4 billion pledge to the Coronavirus Global Response initiative, launched by President Ursula von der Leyen on 4 May 2020.

The EU is providing additional €105.5 million to countries in the Horn of Africa as the coronavirus pandemic risks worsening the humanitarian situation across the region where many continue to suffer from armed conflict, displacement, and recurrent droughts and floods.

The Commission presented a set of guidelines and recommendations to help Member States gradually lift travel restrictions and allow tourism businesses to reopen, after months of lockdown. As soon as the health situation allows, people should be able to catch up with friends and family, in their own EU country or across borders, with all the safety and precautionary measures needed in place. The package also aims to help the EU tourism sector, by supporting businesses and ensuring that Europe continues to be the number one destination for visitors.

Eight large-scale research projects, aimed at developing treatments and diagnostics for the coronavirus, were selected in a fast-track call for proposals, launched in March by the Innovative Medicines Initiative, a public-private partnership.

The European Commission has set up an EU Humanitarian Air Bridge to transport humanitarian workers and emergency supplies for the coronavirus response to some of most critical areas around the world.

1.5 million medical masks will be delivered to 17 Member States and the UK to protect healthcare workers. This is part of a new Commission funded purchase of 10 million masks via the Emergency Support Instrument to provide direct support to Member States to mitigate the immediate consequences of the pandemic and anticipate the needs related to the exit and recovery.

The Commission invited Schengen Member States and Schengen Associated States to extend the temporary restriction on non-essential travel to the EU for another 30 days, until 15 June. The lifting of travel restrictions should be phased: as underlined in the Joint European Roadmap on lifting containment measures, internal border controls will need to start being lifted gradually and in a coordinated manner before restrictions at the external borders can be relaxed in a second stage.

The Commission registered €7.4 billion, equivalent to $8 billion, in pledges from donors worldwide during the Coronavirus Global Response pledging event. This includes a pledge of EUR 1.4 billion by the Commission. This almost reaches the initial target of €7.5 billion and is a solid starting point for the worldwide pledging marathon, which began on 4 May. The aim is to gather significant funding to ensure the collaborative development and universal deployment of diagnostics, treatments and vaccines against coronavirus.

The EU joined forces with global partners to kick-start a pledging effort – the Coronavirus Global Response – starting on 4 May 2020. WHO and global health organisations have launched a joint call for action to develop fast and equitable access to safe, quality, effective and affordable diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines against coronavirus.

•    Video message from President von der Leyen on the Coronavirus Global Response

The Commission welcomed the adoption by the European Parliament and the Council of the proposal on the date of application of the Medical Devices Regulation. The adopted amendment takes into consideration the need for an increased availability of vitally important medical devices across the EU, and at the same time continues to guarantee patient health and safety until the new legislation becomes applicable.

The Commission proposed a macro-financial assistance package worth €3 billion for ten enlargement and neighbourhood partners to help them limit the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. The proposal comes on top of the ‘Team Europe' strategy, the EU's robust and targeted response to support partner countries' efforts in tackling the coronavirus pandemic.

Additional exceptional measures were proposed to further support agricultural and food markets most affected.  Among others, these are measures for private storage aid in the dairy and meat sectors, the authorisation of self-organisation market measures by operators in hard hit sectors and flexibility in fruits and vegetables, wine and some other market support programmes.

Following requests for assistance via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, the EU is coordinating and co-financing the delivery of aid shipments in the EU and in neighbouring countries.

The European Commission together with several partners launched a European COVID-19 Data Platform to enable the rapid collection and sharing of available research data. The platform, part of the ERAvsCorona Action Plan, marks another milestone in the EU's efforts to support researchers in Europe and around the world in the fight against the coronavirus outbreak.

As of 17 April, the EU has managed in an unprecedented repatriation effort to bring home over half a million of its citizens who were affected by coronavirus travel restrictions across the world. At the beginning of the outbreak, around 600,000 EU citizens declared themselves stranded outside the EU. Most of them in the Asia-Pacific region and the Americas.

The Commission published guidance on developing new apps that support the fight against coronavirus in relation to data protection. It aims to offer the framework to guarantee that citizens have sufficient protection of their personal data and limitation of intrusiveness while using such apps. This guidance is accompanying an EU toolbox on contact tracing apps, also published on 16 April.

Two new measures were adopted to further help the agri-food sector. The measures will increase the cash flow of farmers and reduce the administrative burden both for national and regional authorities and for farmers in these particularly challenging times.

The Commission, in cooperation with the President of the European Council, put forward a European roadmap to phase-out the containment measures due to the coronavirus outbreak. The roadmap lists principles and recommendations Member States should consider when planning to lift containment measures.

Guidelines on coronavirus testing methodologies were presented by the Commission. They aim to support Member States in effectively using testing tools in the context of their national strategies and during the different stages of the pandemic, including when phasing out confinement measures.

The European Commission proposed to activate the EU's Emergency Support Instrument on 2 April to directly support the Member States’ healthcare systems in their fight against the pandemic. On 14 April, the Council gave its fast approval, so that the €2.7 billion instrument can immediately begin providing direct support where most needed.

The Commission called for a coordinated approach to the prolongation, as action at the external borders can only be effective if implemented by all EU and Schengen States at all borders, with the same end date and in a uniform manner.

The Commission recommended steps and measures to develop a common EU approach for the use of mobile applications in response to the pandemic. It set out key principles for the use of apps and data as regards data security and the respect of EU fundamental rights such as privacy and data protection.

The Commission's guidelines to Member States focus on the rational supply, allocation and use of vital medicines to treat coronavirus patients as well as medicines which may be at risk of shortage. The proposed actions should allow for a more coordinated approach across the EU, preserving the integrity of the Single Market whilst protecting public health.

• Statement by President von der Leyen on guidelines to ensure supply and availability of medicines

The European Commission and the EU High Representative set out plans for a robust and targeted EU response to support partner countries' efforts in tackling the coronavirus pandemic. The EU will secure financial support to partner countries amounting to more than €15.6 billion from existing external action resources.

• Video message from President von der Leyen on the on the global EU response

A team of European doctors and nurses from Romania and Norway, deployed through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, was dispatched to Milan and Bergamo to help Italian medical staff working to battle the coronavirus. Austria has also offered over 3,000 litres of disinfectant to Italy via the Mechanism.

The European Commission has unlocked €1 billion from the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) as a guarantee to the European Investment Fund (EIF). This will allow the EIF to issue special guarantees to incentivise banks and other lenders to provide liquidity to at least 100,000 European SMEs and small mid-cap companies hit by the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, for an estimated available financing of €8 billion.

• Message by President von der Leyen on measures to support farmers during the coronavirus crisis

The Commission approved requests from Member States and the UK to temporarily waive customs duties and VAT on the import of medical devices, and protective equipment, from third countries in order to help in the fight against coronavirus. This will make it easier financially to get the medical equipment that doctors, nurses and patients desperately need.

• Message by President von der Leyen on waiving customs duties and VAT on the import of medical equipment

To support cross-border healthcare cooperation, the Commission issued practical guidance to Member States. Cooperation across borders can help ease the pressure on overburdened hospitals by transferring patients or sending qualified teams of medical personnel to offer assistance across borders.

The Commission is further increasing its response by proposing to set up a €100 billion solidarity instrument to help workers keep their incomes and help businesses stay afloat, called SURE. It is also proposing to redirect all available structural funds to the response to the coronavirus. On 19 May the Council adopted the proposal. The instrument will become available once all Member States provide their loan guarantees. 

Rules to protect the most deprived EU citizens and to help EU fishermen as part of this instrument entered into force on 24 April.

• Video message by President von der Leyen on an initiative to support short-time work to help the Europeans during the coronavirus crisis

€75 million from the EU budget should be made available to help Member States repatriate EU nationals and to increase the budget of the RescEU medical stockpile. Thanks to repatriation flights organised through the Union Civil Protection Mechanism, almost 10,000 people have been already repatriated to Europe.

• Message by President von der Leyen on repatriation of European citizens stranded abroad (19 March)

The Commission called on EU Member States to support air cargo operations during the coronavirus crisis. The new guidance recommends operational and organisational steps to keep essential transport flows moving, including medical supplies and personnel.

Participating in the extraordinary G20 Leaders' videoconference, President von der Leyen and the European Council President Charles Michel underlined that the EU was committed to international cooperation in tackling the pandemic and would continue to assist vulnerable countries and communities around the world.

Guidelines were issued to ensure a strong EU-wide approach to foreign investment screening in a time of public health crisis and economic vulnerability. The aim is to preserve EU companies and critical assets, in areas such as health, medical research, biotechnology and other, without undermining the EU's general openness to foreign investment.

• Video message by President von der Leyen on guidelines to protect critical European assets and technology in current crisis

New practical advice was issued on implementing Guidelines for border management, in order to keep freight moving across the EU during the pandemic. Member States are requested to designate all the relevant internal border-crossing points on the trans-European transport network (TEN-T) as ‘green lane' border crossings. They should be open to all freight vehicles, whatever goods they are carrying.

• Video message from President von der Leyen on guidelines to set up ‘green lanes’

The Commission proposed the activation of the general escape clause of the Stability and Growth Pact. Once endorsed by the Council, it will allow Member States to undertake measures to deal adequately with the crisis, while departing from the budgetary requirements that would normally apply under the European fiscal framework.

• Video message by President von der Leyen on further measures to support the economy

The European Committee for Standardization and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization made available a number of European standards for certain medical devices and personal protective equipment. This action will help both EU and third-country companies to swiftly start production and place products on the internal market more easily while ensuring a high degree of safety.

The Commission decided to create a strategic RescEU stockpile of medical equipment such as ventilators and protective masks to help EU countries in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Commission adopted a Temporary Framework to enable Member States to use the full flexibility foreseen under State aid rules to support the economy in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak.

By 31 March, the Commission already approved several schemes based on the Temporary Framework worth several hundred billions of euros to support Member States’ economies face the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. It took 18 decisions approving 27 national measures.

The Commission published guidelines to ensure EU passenger rights are protected and applied in a coherent manner across the EU, in light of the mass cancellations and delays.

An advisory panel on COVID-19 composed of epidemiologists and virologists from different Member States is brought together to formulate EU guidelines on science-based and coordinated risk management measures.

• Statement by President von der Leyen on the latest measures to address the Coronavirus

The Commission presented guidelines to Member States on health-related border management measures. The aim is to protect citizens' health, ensure the right treatment of people who do have to travel, and make sure essential goods and services remain available.

• Video message from President von der Leyen on health-related border management measures

The Commission offered up to €80 million of financial support to CureVac, a highly innovative vaccine developer from Tübingen, Germany, to scale up development and production of a vaccine against the coronavirus in Europe.

The Commission took steps to protect the availability of supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE), by requiring that exports of such equipment outside of the European Union are subject to an export authorisation by Member States.

• Video message from President von der Leyen on the European response to the coronavirus

The Commission presented an immediate response to mitigate the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, centred on a European coordinated response, and via a range of tools, e.g. State aid, flexibility of the European fiscal framework, liquidity to the banking sector, EU budget, and more. ENTRY INTO FORCE 1 April 2020.

Targeted legislation was announced to temporarily alleviate airlines from their airport slot usage obligations under EU law. This would release pressure on the aviation industry, and also decrease emissions by avoiding so-called ‘ghost flights' where airlines fly almost empty aircraft to keep their slots. ENTRY INTO FORCE 1 April 2020.

During EU leaders' videoconference on the response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Commission received a mandate to further step up its response to the coronavirus, and coordinate Member State actions. President von der Leyen announced a “Corona Response Investment Initiative” that should enable around €60 billion of unused cohesion policy funds to be redirected to the fight against the coronavirus. ENTRY INTO FORCE 1 April 2020.

The Commission scaled up the emergency call launched in January to fight the COVID-19 outbreak. On 31 March, the Commission decided to support 1 additional project bringing the number of supported projects up to 18. They involve 140 research teams from across EU and beyond, and are funded with a total budget of € 48,5 million from Horizon 2020.

The first repatriations by air from France and Germany, co-financed by the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, brought home 447 European citizens, from Wuhan. The European Commission works on all fronts to support efforts to fight the coronavirus, helping Member States to repatriate their citizens and providing emergency services to China.