EuropeChats - The EU’s response to the COVID crisis

In this new episode of #EuropeChats, we’re analysing the EU’s response to the #COVID19 crisis. For more than a year, the world has been caught in the grip of the coronavirus pandemic, and providing a successful response has been a significant challenge to the EU throughout. 

In this episode, we discuss how and why the initial response was made, including why mask and PPE procuration was such a significant challenge in the spring of 2020. TEPSA Secretary-General Jim Cloos was a key player in organising the mammoth Special European Council meeting of July 2020, which resulted in the adoption of the Multi-Annual Financial Framework 2021-2027 and the COVID Recovery Package: #NextGenerationEU. With this expertise of the famous days-long negotiation, Jim speaks about the key elements of the more than EUR 1.8 trillion total funding agreed in that meeting. 

We also discover how the EU’s research funding resulted in the record delivery of a COVID19 vaccine, as well as how the EU’s joint procuration of vaccines has resulted in a successful vaccination programme in Europe and beyond Europe’s borders, thanks to a successful vaccine export programme and the EU’s heavy involvement in COVAX. The COVID vaccine was developed and released in only one year, as of May 2021, 200 million vaccine doses have been administered in the EU, and the EU is the biggest contributor to the COVAX initiative. 

EuropeChats with Jim Cloos & Mariam Khotenashvili is the flagship podcast of TEPSA and it is part of the TEPSA Podcast Channel “Europe Speaks”  

Music: Worakls, 22 September 2014, Salzburg, Hungry music