Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020, the EU, EU Member States and European financial institutions, as Team Europe, have disbursed €34 billion in support to partner countries in addressing the pandemic and its consequences, delivering on its promises with concrete results. This disbursement already exceeds by far the initial €20 billion Team Europe support package pledged in spring 2020, which has now increased to €46 billion.
Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, said: ”In spring last year, the world faced an unprecedented crisis. The international community needed to respond together. Team Europe responded by pooling our expertise and resources, drawing on our respective strengths to deliver more targeted support with greater impact. We have also adapted EU programmes to better respond to developing countries’ needs. Team Europe can be proud to have mobilised such a substantial package in just one year to support our partners around the world.”
Team Europe has already mobilised support for over 130 countries. From the overall €46 billion, €34 billion have been disbursed as of April 2021: €1.8 billion on emergency response to humanitarian needs, €6.3 billion on strengthening health, water and sanitation systems, and €25.8 billion on mitigating the social and economic consequences of the pandemic, including job losses and education.
The current state-of-play of disbursements relative to commitments by region as of April 2021 is as follows: Neighbourhood: €10.3 billion out of €13.8 billion, Sub-Sahara Africa: €6.7 billion out of €8.1 billion, Western Balkans and Turkey: €4.9 billion out of €5.8 billion, Asia and the Pacific: €2.7 billion out of €3.2 billion, Latin America and the Caribbean: €1.5 billion out of €3.0 billion, Africa, Caribbean
In addition to this, Team Europe’s contribution includes guarantees (€2.1 billion out of €3.3 billion).
The EU has also played a leading role in setting up the COVAX Facility, the only global initiative supporting fair distribution of vaccines around the world, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries. As of June 2021, Team Europe’s contribution for the COVAX Facility is over €3 billion.
In terms of disbursements, Team Europe has disbursed 74% of €46 billion committed by April 2021. In January 2021, disbursements reached €26.2 billion, while in April 2021, they were up to €34 billion (+ €7.8 billion).
Background
The ‘Team Europe’ package was launched on 8 April 2020 by President von der Leyen to support EU partner countries in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences. The financial support initially pledged was for around €20 billion and combined resources from the EU, its Member States, and financial institutions, in particular the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
The financial commitments then doubled to €40.5 billion by January 2021. As of April 2021, they had further increased to €46 billion.
This collective global support focuses on 1) emergency response and immediate humanitarian needs; 2) strengthening health, water, sanitation and nutrition systems, and 3) mitigating the social and economic consequences of the pandemic.
