The President of the European Council, the President of the Commission and the Prime Minister of Croatia, holding the rotating Presidency of the Council, today decided the following on the work in the Council and the European Council:
The capacity of the Union to take decisions must be upheld so as to ensure effective Union action to limit the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and to mitigate its effects, as well as to deal with other essential challenges for the Union.
At the same time the work of the institutions needs to be adapted to take into account the current situation and to make sure that the risk of spread of the virus is minimised.
Specifically as regards the Council, this means that:
Essential Council meetings will be retained;
Non-essential or non-urgent Council meetings will be cancelled or postponed and, in some cases, video conferences will be held instead; where appropriate, decisions may be taken by written procedure;
When meetings take place, measures will be taken to ensure that the participants will be safe.
For the period until 31 March, the following essential Council meetings will be retained:
– 13 March: Justice and Home Affairs (Home)
– 17 March: Economic and Financial Affairs Council
– 23 March: Foreign Affairs Council (in agreement with HR Josep Borrell)
– 24 March: General Affairs Council
– 26-27 March: European Council
The President of the European Council, the President of the Commission and the Prime Minister of Croatia will continue to consult on an ongoing basis.
“The Coronavirus is a global crisis, not limited to any continent and it requires cooperation rather than unilateral action. The European Union disapproves of the fact that the US decision to impose a travel ban was taken unilaterally and without consultation. The European Union is taking strong action to limit the spread of the virus,” was stated in the statement by Presidents Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen with the Croatian Presidency on US travel ban related to COVID-19.
