Subject: Stockpile of basic medical equipment, and strategic storage thereof in the European Union
Basic medical and health supplies have run short in recent weeks in the European Union because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has already infected thousands of people in Europe. There have not been sufficient supplies to enable hospitals stretched to breaking point and front-line workers to work in safety and avoid being infected with coronavirus themselves. The Commission could have alleviated the effects of this shortage through advance provision of medicines and basic health and protection equipment for EU citizens.
Although late in the day, the Commission took action on 9 March 2020 when it established a rescEU stockpile of medical equipment as part of the Civil Protection Mechanism. Items stocked include intensive care equipment (such as ventilators), personal protection equipment (such as reusable masks), vaccines, means of treatment and laboratory supplies.
1. Given the recent widespread shortages in many Member States, how will the Commission boost these instruments to avoid future crises resulting from shortfalls in supplies?
2. Will this fund cover strategic storage so that in the event of an emergency efficient logistics are already in place and donations and imports from non-EU countries can be avoided?
Answer given by Ms Kyriakides on behalf of the European Commission
(17 July 2020)
The Commission is working on all fronts to tackle the COVID-19 outbrea k (1). The priority is to guarantee the health and safety of everyone, protecting people and supporting the health systems and workers while maintaining the flow of good s (2) and mitigating the effects on the economy (3).
The rescEU stockpile (4) created by the Commission (5) is a centralised common reserve of emergency equipment to serve as safety net when other resources are depleted. It aims to ensure that medical and protective equipment, testing kits and medicines are available to the Member States’ health workers who need them most. Under rescEU the Commission does not directly procure but cooperates with willing EU CPM (6) Member and Participating States by signing direct grants. The Commission is collating information about providers’ offers, also shared with Member and Participating States.
Moreover, the Commission, together with many Member States, launched four joint procurement tenders for essential medical and protective equipment (7), and set up a clearing house to identify available supplies to match them with Member States’ demands. The clearing house will use the EU Emergency Support Instrument (8) to mitigate shortages, and will cooperate with industry on increasing production, repurposing for manufacturers and facilitating imports.
The Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative allows Member States to mobilise all available funding in the 2014-2020 programmes financed from the European Structural and Investment Funds to provide immediate response to direct and indirect effects of the crisis, including purchase of equipment and medicines (9).
With the future EU4Health Programme (10) it will also be able to build strategic stockpiles of medicines and medical equipment.
⋅1∙ Commission’s COVID-19 website: https://ec.europa.eu/info/live-work-travel-eu/health/coronavirus-response
⋅2∙ https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_20_468
⋅3∙ https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_20_459
⋅4∙ https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_20_476
⋅5∙ Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/414 of 19 March 2020 amending Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/570 as regards medical stockpiling rescEU
capacities (notified under document C(2020) 1827) (OJ L 82I, 19.3.2020, p. 1). ⋅6∙ EU Civil Protection Mechanism: https://ec.europa.eu/echo/what/civil-protection/mechanism_en ⋅7∙ https://ec.europa.eu/info/live-work-travel-eu/health/coronavirus-response/public-health_en#ensuring-the-availability-of-supplies-and-equipment ⋅8∙ https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/eu-emergency-support-instrument-healthcare-sector_en ⋅9∙ https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/newsroom/crii/fs_crii_0204_en.pdf ⋅10∙ https://eur-lex.europa.eu/resource.html?uri=cellar:9b76a771-a0c4-11ea-9d2d-01aa75ed71a1.0001.02/DOC_1&format=PDF