Statement by Charles Michel, President of the European Council

Statement by Charles Michel, President of the European Council,

on the occasion of the UNGASS on Covid-19

- New York, 3 December 2020 -

Excellences,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

First of all, I would like to thank the President of the General Assembly Volkan Bozkır and Secretary-General António Guterres for organizing this extraordinary summit on COVID-19.

The United Nations must be the place where all our positive forces are being brought together. It is therefore the ideal place for us to take on board, all together, the lessons of this ordeal and to draw up plans that allow us to emerge stronger in the future.

I will be very pragmatic here and launch a concrete proposal.

The number of epidemics has increased in recent decades. We knew that the world could potentially be struck by a major pandemic. And, yet, we were caught unprepared. There was therefore a failure of sorts and we need to draw the lessons and consequences.

However, there has also been a monumental achievement: vaccines have been developed in less than a year, rather than the ten years generally needed. What is the key to this success? An unprecedented global cooperation and mobilization involving the scientific community and industry, to which the public authorities have provided the necessary support and funding. The European Union has been at the forefront of this mobilization.

In May, the EU launched a pledging marathon, which raised nearly EUR 16 billion in public (and also private) funds for research to provide universal access to coronavirus treatments, tests and vaccines. The European Union participates in the COVAX Facility. It also intends to play its part in facilitating the equitable distribution of vaccines through donations of part of the doses purchased by our Member States.

The success as regards vaccines is the result of mobilization and of international solidarity. With a view to possible future pandemics, we now need to build on this approach, structuring our collective capacity to anticipate, prepare for and manage such crises.

I propose that we do so through an international treaty on pandemics. Such a treaty should be agreed within the framework of the World Health Organization, which is the cornerstone of international cooperation against pandemics: it would complement and reinforce our action. The other international organizations and agencies concerned should also be involved.

What should the objective of this treaty be? The objective is to do better. To do better in all the areas in which we have observed that we need to reinforce our cooperation. I will mention some of them here.

Monitor the risks more effectively. We need to develop our knowledge and surveillance of the emergence of infectious diseases in animals, of which the transmission to humans is the foremost epidemiological risk.

Better finance and coordinate research. We have seen how the speed of the financial mobilization was crucial in shortening the time required to produce vaccines. The ACT-Accelerator experience should serve as a model for developing a rapid scientific and industrial response capacity.

Alert and share information more effectively Let us be clear: the COVID-19 pandemic has cruelly exposed the progress we still need to make as regards health risk alerts. A more extensive scale of alert levels may need to be developed. This would increase transparency. More broadly, it is also the essential basis for effective communication.

Improve access to healthcare As I said before, the principle of universal access to the new COVID-19 vaccines is fundamental. Our aim must be to guarantee access to vaccines, treatment and tests for future pandemics. This should be laid down in a treaty.

Improve resilience Healthcare systems in rich countries have been put under severe strain. Imagine then the situation of countries with fragile healthcare systems. We need to address the global challenge of strengthening healthcare systems in the event of a pandemic. We need to reflect on how best to secure the supply chains of medical products and equipment. This is a health issue, but also one that is linked to the functioning of international trade.

Excellences, ladies and gentlemen: these then are some ideas that could serve as pointers in negotiating this international treaty on pandemics. I am launching an appeal. Let us mobilise, pool our experiences, learn the lessons, and take the right decisions so that we help make the world and humanity more just and more resilient.

Thank you.