June 30, 2020 update
State Aid to Italy, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Netherlands, Croatia. The European Commission approves. €7.6 billion Italian tax schemes to support companies and self employed workers affected by coronavirus outbreak. €600 million Slovenian scheme to support companies affected by the coronavirus outbreak. €1.4 billion Dutch scheme to support small and medium-sized enterprises affected by coronavirus outbreak. €80 million Croatian loan guarantee scheme for companies in the maritime, transport, travel and infrastructure sectors affected by the coronavirus outbreak. €200 million Slovenian scheme to compensate large companies for damages suffered due to coronavirus outbreak. €160 million Dutch scheme to compensate companies that offer special transport services which suffered due to coronavirus outbreak.
EIT: Almost 1,500 innovators have responded to COVID-19 Crisis Response Initiative. This will allow high impact start-ups, scale-ups and SMEs to benefit from additional funding under the “Venture Support Instrument”. And it will enable the launch of new innovation projects tackling COVID-19 related challenges as part of the “Pandemic Response Projects”. By deploying a rapid response mechanism, all EIT Crisis Response activities will be completed by the end of 2020 to help Europe recover.
June 27, 2020 update
June 26, 2020 update
European Commission: Further EU assistance to Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus – An Emergency Medical Team of 10 doctors and nurses from Italy are preparing their mission to Armenia, via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. They will provide further assistance in addition to last week’s deployed medical experts from Lithuania. In addition, in response to requests for assistance under the Mechanism, Poland has offered disinfectant, surgical masks, face shields and other personal protective equipment items to Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus.
State aid to Lithuania, Czechia, Cyprus – The European Commission approves €50 million Lithuanian measures in support of companies operating in the travel sector affected by the coronavirus outbreak, €280 million Cypriot schemes to support companies and self-employed affected by coronavirus outbreak, a €2.6 million Czech scheme to support companies affected by coronavirus outbreak in the Moravia Silesia region
June 25, 2020 update
European Commission: More than €20 million in cohesion policy support to deal with the health emergency in Bulgaria – Thanks to this funding, the Bulgarian Ministry of Health purchased new top class medical equipment, life-saving medication and personal protective equipment for health care facilities all over Bulgaria, including more than 377 ventilators, over 2 million face masks and 177,000 test kits.
June 24, 2020 update
EMA: Global regulators discuss data requirements for phase 3 trials of COVID-19 vaccines – Many researchers around the world are currently working on vaccines against COVID-19 but a rapid authorisation of COVID-19 vaccines will only be possible if robust and sound scientific evidence on vaccine quality of candidates, safety and efficacy is generated. International convergence of data requirements is intended to encourage and accelerate the development of vaccines as a global public health good.
GCSA – EGE: Joint statement on scientific advice to European policy makers in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic – The European Commission’s independent Group of Chief Scientific Advisors (GCSA), the European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies (EGE) and Peter Piot, special advisor to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, published a joint statement on scientific advice to European policy makers concerning the COVID-19 pandemic.
June 22, 2020 update
European Commission: World leaders summit and concert – The ‘Global Goal: Unite For Our Future’ campaign launched by the Commission and the international advocacy organisation Global Citizen on 28 May will culminate in a global pledging summit and concert on Saturday 27 June. The aim is to mobilise additional funding to develop and deploy coronavirus vaccines, tests and treatments.
European Commission: EU-China Summit – The EU-China summit had a comprehensive agenda addressing bilateral relations; regional and international issues, and the COVID-19 pandemic and economic recovery.
State aid to Poland, Slovakia, Belgium, Portugal, Hungary – The European Commission approves :
– €449 million Polish scheme to support research and development, testing and production of coronavirus relevant products
– €4 billion Slovak direct grant and guarantee schemes to support companies affected by coronavirus outbreak
– €21 million Belgian scheme to support the production of coronavirus relevant products in the Flemish region
– €40 million Portuguese scheme to support companies affected by the coronavirus outbreak in the autonomous region of Madeira
– modified €288 million Hungarian scheme to support companies affected by coronavirus outbreak
June 19, 2020 update
European Commission: Reprogramming of €275 million in cohesion policy funding to mitigate economic and social impact of the pandemic in Slovenia – The resources will be invested in strengthening the emergency response capacities in the healthcare sector, providing liquidity to small businesses, protecting jobs, helping vulnerable groups with accessible social services and promoting digital technologies in the education sector.
June 18, 2020 update
European Commission: EU Medical Team deployed to Armenia – A team of medical experts from Lithuania is on their way to Armenia, mobilised via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. The team consists of volunteers and members of the Lithuanian coronavirus crisis management team who will work alongside their Armenian colleagues to fight the virus for an initial 14 days.
European Commission: Public consultation on a new Digital Education Action Plan – The pandemic saw the widespread closure of schools and universities with a switch to distance and online learning and the use of digital technologies on a massive and unprecedented scale. The consultation will help draw lessons from the experiences and inform the proposals of the Action Plan, which will be of key importance in the COVID-19 recovery period.
June 10, 2020 update
JRC: Release of AI tech for coronavirus fact checkers. In the fight against coronavirus disinformation, the JRC has announced plans to make innovative AI text mining software open-source and available for the fact checking community.
June 8, 2020 update
JRC: Google search data provides insights about EU citizens’ concerns during the coronavirus pandemic. As part of its activities to analyse public opinion on the coronavirus pandemic and its consequences, a JRC research team is using Google search data to understand better the concerns of EU citizens.
Consult older ESMH articles on the European responses to the corona crisis