EU CIVIL PROTECTION MECHANISM for Italy. The European Commission’s response to Corona virus

Описание: The European Commission is coordinating a common European response to the COVID-19 crisis and is supporting the member states in tackling the pandemic. While member states are on the frontline, the Commission has proposed an unprecedented set of measures to reinforce and facilitate their efforts.

At this specialised page on COVID-19 response you can find up-to-date information on the situation regarding the pandemic within the EU and each of the member states. Full timeline of the EU actions in response to the coronavirus is available here.

This handy A-Z plain English guide to Covid-19(link is external) prepared by the National Audit Literacy Agency can be useful for understanding some of the new terminolgy the pandemic has brough into our lives.

Public health measures
The priority of the European Commission is to save as many lives as possible. This is why it is taking all necessary steps to coordinate with member states and to facilitate the supply of protective and medical equipment across Europe. In addition, the Commission is reorienting existing research funding and increasing new funding to find, mass-produce and deploy an effective vaccine.

Given the shortage of this material, the Commission has launched four joint procurements with member states to facilitate and accelerate the procurement process for medical equipment

On 28 February, the Commission launched a call for tenders for personal protective equipment.
On 17 March, the Commission launched a tender for additional categories of personal protective equipment.
These first joint procurements have proven successful. As of 24 March, producers have made offers covering, and in some cases even exceeding, the quantities requested by the 26 member states that take part in the procurement, for every single item requested.