In this new episode of EuropeChats, we’re analysing the EU’s response to the COVID-19 crisis. For more than a year, the world has been caught in the grip of the coronavirus pandemic, and providing a successful response has been a significant challenge to the EU throughout.
In this episode, we discuss how and why the initial response was made, including why mask and PPE procuration was such a significant challenge in the spring of 2020. TEPSA Secretary-General Jim Cloos was a key player in organising the mammoth Special European Council meeting of July 2020, which resulted in the adoption of the Multi-Annual Financial Framework 2021-2027 and the COVID Recovery Package: Next Generation EU. With this expertise of the famous days-long negotiation, Jim speaks about the key elements of the more than EUR 1.8 trillion total funding agreed in that meeting.
We also discover how the EU’s research funding resulted in the record delivery of a COVID19 vaccine, as well as how the EU’s joint procuration of vaccines has resulted in a successful vaccination programme in Europe and beyond Europe’s borders, thanks to a successful vaccine export programme and the EU’s heavy involvement in COVAX. The COVID vaccine was developed and released in only one year, as of May 2021, 200 million vaccine doses have been administered in the EU, and the EU is the biggest contributor to the COVAX initiative.
EuropeChats is TEPSA’s new talk show dedicated to answering your questions about the European Union. If you ever wondered what competences the EU has, what effects its policies have on your day-to-day life, and why the EU is so important, then this show will give you all the answers you need!
Every episode, Jim Cloos, TEPSA Secretary-General will be answering your questions about Europe and the EU. Jim Cloos is TEPSA’s Secretary-General, and has spent a lifetime in the heart of Brussels. As the former Deputy Director General for General and Institutional Policy at the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union, he was involved in European decision-making at every level. He had a key role in drafting the Maastricht Treaty during the Luxembourgish Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 1991, and has an intricate expertise on EU Affairs and the internal functioning of the European institutions. There is no-one better placed to answer any question about Europe that you might have.
Mariam Khotenashvili is TEPSA’s Executive Director. Her background combines research coordination, policy advocacy, project management and academic work. Her fields of expertise include EU foreign and development policies and in particular the European Neighbourhood Policy. Mariam is your direct line into the European bubble, and to Jim’s expertise.
