As countries in the EU, including Malta, see a general decline in COVID-19 cases and take baby steps towards opening up their economies, a surer step towards stabilisation will undoubtedly come with the development of a widely available vaccine.
An international conference chaired by Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, recently brought together world leaders – with the notable exception of US President Donald Trump – to raise billions of euros for a mass-produced vaccine to defeat the virus.
Countries agreed, in a show of global solidarity, that the vaccine was the best chance of beating the disease.
While clearly not a competition bet-ween countries, there is concern that Trump’s non-attendance signals an approach that might lead to a counter-productive trans-Atlantic race instead of collaboration. The hunt for a vaccine cannot be a competition between countries when, as Boris Johnson of Britain rightly said, “It’s humanity against the virus… together we will prevail”.
Today, several months after the World Health Organisation confirmed the novel coronavirus pandemic, Europe remains in the frontline of the battle to contain it. Five of the six countries in the world reporting the most cases have been in Europe.
Yet, ironically, despite successfully chairing the international conference, the EU has struggled to make common cause against COVID-19. In spite of some notable cross-border help on the medical front, especially in sharing personal protective equipment (PPE), this has been marked by isolated acts, not part of an over-arching plan committed to demonstrating EU solidarity.
Malta has made its position plain in the weekly conferences of EU health ministers. Health Minister Chris Fearne has emphasised since the beginning of the pandemic that solidarity cannot be something to which only lip-service is paid. This concern was amplified after rich countries like France and Germany introduced export restrictions on PPE two months ago as COVID-19 rampaged across the continent.
The EU has failed to convince that it is explicitly prepared to show solidarity between member states on access to medicines, medical equipment and, especially, the vaccine, if and when one is discovered. This is a matter on which the European Commission needs to take a stand. It has been slow to forge a coherent EU-wide response to the pandemic and has allowed member states to go their own way.
But especially after its successful global fund-raising conference, it is still not too late for the EU to demonstrate that the virus is not simply a national issue for countries to deal with alone but one which transcends borders.
The global impact of COVID-19 should act as a spur to the EU to set an example by using the influence available to the Commission, through its shared institutions, to lay down a plan of cooperation based on solidarity among member states.
The message from the European Commission must be that a lack of solidarity among member states on something as life-threatening as this disease risks exacerbating the shift towards nationalism which has plagued European politics over the last decade and goes against the values the EU holds dear.
The mission to find a coronavirus vaccine is the most urgent challenge confronting the world today.
When, hopefully, it is found, it must be made available to all member states of the EU regardless of size or weight.
A solid plan and protocol for all its member states to enjoy equal access to medicines in the EU would demonstrate its wider commitment to global solidarity in the search for a vaccine.