EU calls for dedicated crisis management centre - reports

The European Union is expected to endorse establishing a dedicated crisis management centre in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was reported on Wednesday.

Leaders from the EU’s 27 member states are scheduled to hold a conference call on Thursday. The spring summit, normally held in person in Brussels, is normally scheduled to discuss the economy but will now focus on the coronavirus crisis gripping the region.

One of the key decisions taken will be the establishment of a “more ambitious and wide-ranging crisis management system within the EU, including, for instance, a true European crisis management centre,” The Guardian reported, quoting from a draft statement prepared for the summit.

The Financial Times, which also reported seeing the draft, said the centre would be permanent and not just for the management of the coronavirus crisis.

It said the draft statement noted: “We must draw all the lessons of the present crisis and start reflecting on the resilience of our societies when confronted with such events.”

It is thought that the new centre would work alongside the EU's existing Emergency Response Coordination Centre, which helps countries in Europe and world-wide in times of disaster, such as earthquakes, floods or pandemics.

The European Central Bank has already launched an emergency €750bn package in response to the coronavirus crisis, which will see it buy both government and company debt across the Eurozone. It has also relaxed some budget rules to allow members states to redirect funds allocated for other purposes to fight the virus. More than 100,000 people have so been infected across Europe.