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Running the European Union is no simple matter and the duo at the head of the bloc of 27 very distinct nations has struggled mightily to have their voices heard.
It is one of the EU’s peculiarities that its leadership is composed of two people, sometimes to the bemusement of other heads of state and governments meeting at international summits or events.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Council President Charles Michel took office a year ago — but there was no honeymoon period to find their footing, as they were engulfed within months by the coronavirus pandemic.
“The beginning of the pandemic was very poor, devastating for both of them,” said Rosa Balfour, a director at Carnegie Europe, of the pair’s performance in the unexpected crisis.
Between chaos at closed internal borders or unilateral export bans on medical equipment, the continent gave an unfortunate image of selfish disunity as countries chose national interest over European spirit.
The two leaders were helpless against these my-country-first instincts, causing fury in Italy, which was the first and hardest hit by the virus as their EU partners looked on in silence.
As thousands died in northern Italy’s overwhelmed hospitals, a visit by the two leaders would have been essential, said Yves Bertoncini, European affairs consultant. “They missed a golden opportunity.”
In their defence, the very nature of EU leadership makes it difficult for the top officials to shine.
Some countries hoarding supplies while army trucks transported coronavirus victims to cemeteries in parts of Italy became a defining image of Europe’s first wave
Miguel MEDINA, AFP/File
Both are unelected and chosen by the EU’s 27 national leaders, who hold the real cards of power in Brussels, and they are rarely household names to average European voters.
But, when things go wrong, national politicians are quick to blame Brussels — at the risk of feeding the euroscepticism that, in the case of Britain, snowballed into a full-blown EU divorce.
In April, former German defence minister von der Leyen apologised to Italy and much of the next months was devoted to making up for the EU’s shortcomings in those first crucial days.
This came thanks to Chancellor Angela Merkel who, at the urging of France, reversed a long-held German position to propose a massive stimulus plan that would be paid for by EU-wide borrowing.
At a historic four-day summit in July, the other EU chief, former Belgian prime minister Michel, corralled the 27 leaders into accepting a 1.2-trillion-euro ($1.4 trillion) recovery and budget plan, defying strong opposition.
With that package, von der Leyen won more influence “in the cathedral of the EU”, said Balfour.
It will be her commission, the EU’s executive arm, that will dispatch the money to members, making key decisions on Europe’s economic recovery.
‘Mrs. Europe’ –
Experts agree that von der Leyen, a trained doctor, also scored points by taking charge of future Covid vaccines for the EU-27, with six contracts representing more than 1.2 billion doses in the pipeline.
This initiative has led to “a revival of confidence in Europe, which was very low at the start of the pandemic”, said Balfour.
But compared to their predecessors, the Von der Leyen-Michel tandem still lacks gravitas in the eyes of EU-watchers.
Covid-19 hospitalisations in Europe in selected countries, according to health authorities.
Robin BJALON, AFP/File
For Luuk Van Middelaar, who was in the cabinet of former EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy, the duo lack a certain “political weight”.
“There was more political experience with Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker,” he said, referring to the pair’s predecessors at the Council and Commission.
“They embodied European politics and unity in a different way. As a result, it is Mrs. Merkel who is Mrs. Europe.”
While it is hard to compete with a Juncker, who was already an EU veteran when he arrived at the head of the Commission, Von der Leyen is handicapped by the conditions of her appointment after the European elections of 2019.
Set to retire after elections next autumn, for now German Chancellor Angela Merkel is still seen as Europe’s top decider
Tobias SCHWARZ, AFP/File
The choice of a former Belgian Prime Minister for the European Council was not un-expected, but that of von der Leyen was a total surprise.
Virtually unknown outside her country, she was proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron, who refused the candidacy of German MEP Manfred Weber, the candidate backed by Merkel and European Parliament.
As a result, in front of MEPs, the first woman to head the commission obtained a razor-thin majority in her confirmation vote. “It is important to remember who made her queen”, said Bertoncini.
This explained “her difficulty to impose herself, let alone oppose the member states, particularly France and Germany”.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought with it the risk of significant challenges for people living with HIV (PLHIV) who need antiretroviral treatment (ART). Uninterrupted access to ART is the key to staying healthy and keeping the virus under control so it cannot be passed on to partners. Clinical studies clearly show that interruptions in ART can have dangerous long-term consequences.
For some time, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and international agencies have been advocating that PLHIV should be given several months of their medication at a time; however, there were concerns about patients who might not have safe dry places to store medicines and might not keep to their treatment plan without more frequent monitoring. With the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been lockdowns and limitations on health-care visits, as per WHO recommendations, and many countries have opted to provide 3–6 months of ART at a time. Early feedback has shown that concerns can be resolved through cooperation between governmental institutions, NGOs, health workers and community-based groups. In addition to multi-month dispensing of medicines, digital platforms and phone calls or home visits have been introduced to make sure PLHIV receive the clinical and mental health support they need during the pandemic.
Dr Nino Berdzuli, Director of Country Health Programmes at WHO/Europe commented positively on the developments as a good example of the WHO policy framework “United Action for Better Health in Europe”: “This people-centred approach to providing care demonstrates the importance of protecting and promoting the health of the most vulnerable – such as those living with a stigmatized disease – and using innovative approaches, such as digital platforms, to maintain or enhance service provision. Although not all countries have been able to prescribe or assure multiple month supplies of ART due to limited stocks or risk of facing stock outs due to procurement and supply challenges, the way countries are approaching this is clearly moving in the right direction”.
Medication difficulties when stranded due to the pandemic
Travel disruptions and border closures caused by the pandemic have also led to people finding themselves stuck in unexpected places, unable to get medication or simply running out of essential medicines they normally bring from a home country.
Life4me+ is an international community-based NGO that has been working with WHO/Europe and other partners in the European Region to help PLHIV who have found themselves stranded abroad during the pandemic with a dwindling supply of vital medicine.
Dr Alex Schneider is the President of the Life4me+ Board. “At the beginning of the pandemic, we were receiving enquiries from tourists who were unable to get home from various countries in Asia and found they were running out of medication,” he explained. “Then things shifted and we found increasingly we were hearing from people in Europe, so called labour migrants, who were getting their medicines from their home countries. When this happens, we are able to put them in contact with sympathetic physicians and explain to them what their rights are. Often people are scared that a clinic or a doctor will tell their employer they are HIV positive; we can reassure them that they are not allowed to do that. People are often amazed that they are actually entitled to care in the country they are living in and do not have to bring medication with them from home.”
During the pandemic, Life4me+ has had to supply medication directly in some cases, to people working illegally or without health insurance, or to stranded tourists. WHO was able to facilitate this by supplying a donation of medication from warehouse reserves held by the Organization and other United Nations agencies. This covered a part of the common regimens (tenofovir/emtricitabine and tenofovir/lamivudine) and ensured fast delivery.
The pandemic as a catalyst for change
Dr Masoud Dara, Coordinator for Communicable Diseases at WHO/Europe, said: “We at WHO/Europe are pleased to have been able to intervene fast and help Life4me+ support people stranded without medication. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a difficult time for everyone, but it is encouraging to note that it has been a catalyst for change in the way HIV treatment services are delivered. Continuing scaling up of ART will mean integrating HIV services into the public health system — in many cases, down to primary health care and community-based facilities — in order to increase access for patients and communities. This pandemic has proved that communities are best placed to reach those most in need of ART and ensure that no one is left behind”.
The Estonian e-Governance Academy leads the development of the Ukrainian digital state as part of an EU research project titled EU4DigitalUA, the total volume of which amounts to 25 million euros; the budget of the activities implemented by the e-Governance Academy totals 9.6 million euros, informs LETA/BNS.
The e-Governance Academy’s tasks in the project are focused on the development of digital government infrastructure, modernization of public e-services, and further development of cyber security and data protection capacities. All activities are conducted in close collaboration with the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, according to the e-Governance Academy.
“Ukraine is strongly committed to digital transformation. The EU supports Ukraine’s further digital development to raise the country’s competitiveness, improve electronic public services for Ukrainian citizens and businesses and foster approximation with the EU digital single market”, ambassador Matti Maasikas, head of delegation of the European Union to Ukraine, said.
Hannes Astok, executive director of the e-Governance Academy said that the academy has successfully implemented complex e-government projects in Ukraine since 2012.
“The data exchange system Trembita and the information system Vulyk for administrative service centers are the most remarkable fruits of our previous collaboration. We use our best practices of building the Estonian digital government to assist Ukrainian people in making their next leap towards a more transparent and efficient society,” he said.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov said that Ukraine is grateful for the EU supporting its digital transformation.
“For more than a year, the team of the Ministry of Digital Transformation has been building a digital state. One of our goals is to create convenient government services. We have already launched the mobile application and portal of electronic services Diya, introduced the world’s first digital passports and shortened business registration to 15 minutes. We are ready to share experiences with other countries and improve the projects we work on every day. Thanks to the EU assistance, Ukraine will raise the quality of digital changes,” he noted.
e-Governance Academy’s tasks include connecting primary registers to the data exchange system Trembita as well as developing a nation-wide personal identifier, a government-issued digital identity, and the address registry. The project will also visualize information about broadband access in Ukraine.
The task of public e-services development includes capacity-building to government organisations to design and implement modern and complex e-services.
Cyber security tasks are focused on improving the capacity of government institutions to tackle cyber threats and provide citizens with control over their data that is used by the government.
EU4DigitalUA is the largest bilateral EU e-governance and digital program in any EU partner country. The components of the program will be implemented by the e-Governance Academy and FIIAPP from Spain.
The project is a continuation of the EGOV4UKRAINE project activities of the U-LEAD with Europe program, implemented in 2016-2020 by the EU and the member states’ support. The EGOV4UKRAINE project developed and implemented a backbone for public e-services, the Trembita system, and the modern information system Vulyk for administrative service centers to support the provision of public services.
Local communities play a key role in building resilience and human security
“The human dimension could still be further strengthened in the actions put forward by the European Union in its partnership with Africa, on peace and security in particular”, stated Fr. Manuel Barrios Prieto, General Secretary of COMECE, on the occasion of the Webinar on the role of local communities in fostering human security and resilience in the future EU-Africa partnership, held on Thursday 15 October 2020. The report is available here.
In view of the upcoming EU-Africa Summit, COMECE and its partners gathered policy-makers, Church representatives and stakeholders from the EU and different African countries to discuss ways to foster the people-centred dimension of the EU-Africa framework.
The Webinar, entitled “Fostering human security and resilience in the future EU-Africa partnership”, shed light on the importance of supporting and promoting the role of local and faith actors and communities as significant contributors to these objectives.
“In order to be mutually reinforcing, development and security should be people-oriented and place persons, families and communities at the centre”, stated Fr. Manuel Barrios Prieto, General Secretary of COMECE. “We believe – he continued – that the human dimension could still be further strengthened in the actions put forward by the European Union for its partnership with Africa, on peace and security in particular”.
The digital event offered EU officials and the broader European civil society, the possibility to listen to testimonies from six different African countries illustrating ways in which local actors are playing a key role in building resilience and human security.
“In line with the UN 2030 Agenda– stressed Fr. Barrios Prieto – Sustainable Development can only be advanced through an inclusive global partnership, allowing the participation of all stakeholders”. As outlined in the recent COMECE-SECAM joint contribution, Churches, religious communities and faith-based organisations are deeply rooted in local realities and they are “among the frontline and long-standing actors for sustainable human development and peace”.
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