Brussels (AFP)
The EU is counting on rapid tests and better coordination between states to try to stem the new outbreak of Covid-19, due to a lack of vaccines available before April in the best case, said Wednesday the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
"We are now mobilizing 100 million euros (...) to acquire rapid tests that we will distribute to Member States. And we are launching a joint procurement procedure to obtain more," said the chief. from the European executive to the press.
These antigenic tests, which perform less well than current PCR tests, do not require laboratory analysis, and the result can be known in 10 to 30 minutes.
"We will propose an EU-wide approach to approval and use" for "mutual recognition of tests", she insisted.
On the eve of a videoconference summit of Heads of State and Government of the Twenty-Seven, Mrs von der Leyen called for better coordination between States, from the harmonization of the rules imposed on travelers to the vaccination strategies in preparation.
As the second wave of the pandemic hits Europe hard, clogging hospitals at the risk of re-containment, von der Leyen calls for better sharing of health data.
These data, gathered through the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), "will help us to know where there is capacity in intensive care units" or if patient transfers across borders "can be made. organized in case of necessity ", she argued, recalling that" the medical staff are exhausted ".
It also calls for increased interoperability between national tracking applications, inviting all States to link the applications to the recently launched European portal.
No "miracle solution", agrees Ursula von der Leyen, but as many tools to try to stem the pandemic in what promises to be "a battle still long, an escape to the long term".
"In the best of cases", vaccines will only be available in large volumes "from April" and "even the vaccine is not the miracle cure that will change everything in one day," he said. she called back.
What augurs well for a very complicated winter: "Christmas this year will be a different Christmas; everything will depend on our behavior", she noted, while acknowledging "the growing fatigue" in the face of precautionary measures.
"I understand that our fellow citizens are tired (...) Many people suffer morally from the persistent restrictions on freedom and isolation. But the time has not come to relax our efforts", urged Ursula von der Leyen.
The Commission is also seeking to facilitate essential travel across Europe by developing a "common EU passenger tracking form" and harmonizing quarantine rules.
On the other hand, there is no question for the moment of strengthening the support measures already planned, whether it is the temporary European support program for partial unemployment measures or the 750 billion euros recovery plan.
"The work ahead is titanic, let's talk about this before discussing other options on the table," insisted Ms von der Leyen.
The leaders of the Twenty-Seven will meet on Thursday at 6.30 p.m. by videoconference for a summit aimed in particular at discussing a common approach for the deployment of rapid tests.
"The gravity of the situation requires the greatest possible coordination between Europeans" to "not relive the initial situation of border closure" and to "coordinate" national anti-Covid strategies and testing policies, said the French president Emmanuel Macron after an interview in Paris with the Estonian Prime Minister.
© 2020 AFP