Press release on the EU participation to the small group of foreign ministers meeting to coordinate enhanced COVID-19 response
In the COVID-19 Global Action Meeting, convened by US Secretary of State Blinken and gathering the EU, represented by Commissioner Urpilainen, and other partner countries, participants discussed yesterday a ‘COVID-19 Global Action Plan’.
The objective is to help coordinate actions and mobilise resources in six priority areas in relation to the global COVID-19 response to bring an end to the pandemic by the end of 2022: get shots in arms, bolster supply chain resilience, address information gaps, support health care workers, ensure availability of treatments and testing where it is most needed and strengthen the global health security architecture.
The EU and its Member States, acting as Team Europe, have been at the fore-front of efforts to tackle the pandemic globally and are committed to co-lead this Global Action Plan, in line with the ongoing Team Europe response to the pandemic. The EU will remain active in all 6 priority areas and specifically offered to co-lead with partners to coordinate actions to tackle vaccine hesitancy and combat disinformation, get shots in arms, bolster supply chain resilience and strengthen the global health security architecture.
The High Representative and Vice President of the Commission Josep Borrell said:
“We fully endorse the COVID-19 Global Action Plan presented today and are determined to play a leading role to ensure its successful implementation. With 1.8 billion doses of vaccines made in Europe delivered to 165 countries and 46 billion euros mobilised to tackle the health and socio-economic impact of the crisis, the EU has demonstrated its leadership and ability to make a decisive contribution to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. As there is still a long way to go, we are ready and willing to do more, together with our global partners”.
Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen said:
“Since the outbreak, the EU has been a global leader in responding to COVID-19. Just last week, and ahead of the AU-EU Summit, the European Commission has announced an additional support of €125 million for vaccines deployment in Africa. It is crucial to bring together all of those who can make a real difference in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic. We welcome the Global Action Plan which will contribute to coordinate international efforts and the EU will play its part ”.
More information
Team Europe global response to COVID-19
