COVI committee to look after COVID-19 response of EU states

The COVID-19 pandemic committee of the European Union (COVI) has elected Kathleen Van Brempt as its Chairperson, along with other 4 Vice-Chairs. The aim behind establishing this committee is to look at and assess the COVID-19 virus response in the Europe region. 

The names of the vice-chairs are – Andreas Glück (Renew Europe, DE), the Second Vice-Chair is Ewa Kopacz (EPP, PL), the Third Vice-Chair is Michèle Rivasi (Greens/EFA, FR), and the Fourth Vice-Chair is Karol Karski (ECR, PL). 

The committee is assigned to look after the main four components of the European Union mutant response: health, a coordinated response, respecting democracy and fundamental rights, the societal and economic impact, and finally, the EU and the rest of the world. 

Voting was conducted the previous month for approval of installing the committee, in which 642 votes were in the favour, 10 in its against and 39 abstentions.  

In the belief of the experts, “vaccine hesitancy” is one of the challenges or elements which the COVI committee will be addressing. 

The newly elected Chair asserted, “Although the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has not yet ended, Europe already finds itself in the next crisis”. 

Following the above statement cited, “In the past fifteen years, the EU has weathered a financial crisis, a refugee crisis, a pandemic, and now a war. Through these crises, we witnessed the European Union often lacking the essential tools to act quickly. We saw member states only agreeing on a European response when it was already too late, be it on the joint procurement of medical equipment, a common European migration policy, or the deepening of the Energy Union”. 

“This has brought us the European Union we know today: one which can react to crises but lacks the political mandate to prepare for them”, she then underscored. 

Bulgaria is among the European states with fewer COVID-19 vaccination rates, as per the data.