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Speech by President von der Leyen at the European Parliament Plenary on the preparation of the European Council and EU's response to the global resurgence of COVID-19

Speech given recently (15 December 2021) by President von der Leyen at the European Parliament Plenary on the preparation of the European Council and EU's response to the global resurgence of COVID-19.

Thank you, President Sassoli,

Minister Logar,

Honourable Members,

As we meet for our final plenary of the year, I have to say I am speaking to you with a mixture of caution, on the one hand, and confidence on the other. These mixed feelings are, of course, first and foremost, due to the pandemic. I can imagine how many of you are saddened, like me, to know that this Christmas is once again being overshadowed by the pandemic. However, I am fully confident that we now have the strength and, above all, the means to overcome this pandemic and to end it for good. We have worked very hard this year precisely to make these means available and, above all, to put in place new and better structures to tackle the pandemic.

What is the situation? Today, we face a dual challenge. Firstly, we can see that COVID-19 cases have risen sharply in Europe. Some Member States are reporting record numbers of new infections. And with that, of course, also comes increases in illness, growing pressure on hospitals, and, regrettably, more deaths. We should not forget or, rather, we should always keep in mind that this rise in new infections is almost exclusively still being driven by the Delta variant. What concerns me, however, is that we are now also seeing a new variant on the horizon, Omicron, which is clearly even more infectious. When we look at the doubling rate for new infections, we are currently at two to three days. This is extremely fast. Moreover, scientists are telling us to expect that by as early as mid-January, Omicron will be the dominant variant in most of Europe.

However, we have worked hard in the past year and have achieved a lot. And that is why Europe is now better prepared to fight this virus. There are two main reasons for this: Firstly, we had enough vaccine doses this year for every European, in other words, more than a billion doses. As of today, more than 66% of Europe's population have received two doses, i.e. they are fully vaccinated. In other words, more than 300 million people. In the meantime, 62 million people have also received a booster dose. And we know that according to scientists and initial data on the Omicron variant, triple vaccination is the best available protection we currently have worldwide against Omicron. Of course, we still need to do a lot more research into Omicron, but thanks to the work of our health authority, HERA, we now have a vast network of scientists and laboratories increasing our understanding of the new variant by the day and, above all, of the threat it poses. Secondly, our starting point is also better as we are now in a position here in Europe to produce 300 million vaccine doses each month. We have since established resilient supply chains. We have contracts which ensure that we will also immediately receive vaccines that are adapted to new variants. The firms themselves are now telling us in relation to the Omicron variant that they need around 100 days to adapt a vaccine. We are working closely with the European Medicines Agency, EMA, to ensure that the approval process runs, as it were, in parallel to the development of Omicron-adapted vaccines, so that these adapted vaccines can also be approved as quickly as possible. In other words, we have planned carefully and are staying vigilant. On both fronts this is now paying off.

The most important thing is now to continue to increase vaccination rates in Europe as fast as possible – across all age groups, including children. To do that, we have to reach out to people better; we have to provide more vaccination appointments; we have to set up more pop-up facilities; and, in particular, we have to help in those Member States that are still lagging behind in vaccination. The Commission has now also launched targeted social media campaigns in some Member States in order simply to improve information on the effectiveness of the vaccines in those Member States. In other words, we, for our part, will also make every effort to help overcome vaccine hesitancy. Because, Honourable Members, the price that we are all now paying for vaccination rates being too low is becoming greater and greater. That price is being paid by the people; it is being paid by society; it is being paid by our healthcare system; that price is being paid by our economy. But it is also being paid by the many elderly people who, again, will not be able to see their grandchildren this Christmas. It is being paid, above all, by the children who, once again, cannot go to school. My God! How much time to live, learn and spend with their friends are we taking from them as a result?! So we owe it to all of them to all get vaccinated and fight this pandemic with all our strength.

Europe has also helped to vaccinate the rest of the world on an unprecedented scale. If you look at the figures, globally, then 44% of the world population is now fully vaccinated, and Europe accounts for a very large proportion of that figure. We have supplied more than 1.4 billion vaccine doses to 150 countries. And now we are also the largest vaccine donor worldwide. So far, we have exported 377 million vaccine doses from Europe, mainly to COVAX. And these include 50 million vaccine doses that we have shared bilaterally with the Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership countries. And yet, billions of people in this world have not even received their first vaccine dose yet. And the continent that needs our support most is Africa, where just 7% of the population is vaccinated. That is why we are working flat-out on a package for Africa, partly looking ahead to the EU-Africa summit that we will hold in spring. We want not only to make more vaccines available, but – and this is often an obstacle – to work more on infrastructure; to work more on medical training; to provide more jabs; more infrastructure that is needed to offer vaccination, all the medical equipment – all that needs to be stepped up. In addition, as Team Europe, we are working to develop mRNA production capacity with our partners in Senegal, Rwanda and South Africa, and together with the private sector. Yes, Honourable Members, this pandemic is unprecedented in our history. But so is our response.

Honourable Members,

Besides the pandemic, we will also discuss at the European Council other important issues – from energy prices and the overall economic situation, indeed, to the Belarusian regime's hybrid attack against our Member States – Lithuania, Poland and Latvia. The autocratic regime's attempt to destabilise our Member States has completely failed because our Union reacted robustly and with great solidarity and unity. We mobilised humanitarian assistance, we introduced a tailored sharp set of sanctions, we supported voluntary returns. As a result, within just a month now, more than 3,500 migrants have been returned safely from Belarus to Iraq.

However, Ladies and Gentlemen, Honourable Members, the situation at our border with Belarus should be seen in a wider context, mainly the deliberate attempt to destabilise the security of our democracies and those of our neighbours. And I want to focus on that now. We all have seen the reports of Russia's massive build-up of military along Ukraine's eastern border and also the attempt to destabilise Ukraine from within.

I want to reaffirm our unwavering commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as the right of any sovereign state to determine its own future. We also see the blatant attempt to intimidate Moldova's reformist government by squeezing them on gas supplies at a time of high energy prices. And Honourable Members, we must protect our societies and our democracies from this kind of cynical geopolitical play. Of course, we want good relations with Russia. But whether this is possible depends first and foremost on Russia's behaviour. At this point in time, Russia is choosing an aggressive posture vis-à-vis its neighbours. And as the European Union and its G7 partners have made very clear, further aggressive acts against Ukraine will have massive costs for Russia.

In June, the European Council has tasked us to come up with options. Since then, we have been working on this in close cooperation with the United States and other partners. We are prepared. There is a whole set of economic sanctions in place, targeting the financial and energy sectors, dual-use goods and defence. Our response to any further aggression may take the form of a robust scaling-up and expansion of these existing sanctions. And of course, we are ready to take additional, unprecedented measures with serious consequences for Russia. But above all, I call on Russia to de-escalate, to pursue diplomatic channels and to abide by its international commitments. Conflicts must be solved peacefully. 

Honourable Members,

From our united response in the face of external threats to our European vaccination campaign, we demonstrate every day that our Union and democracies deliver. Today I especially want to thank the Slovenian Presidency. It has done so much to move our work forward, from coordination on COVID-19 to important initiatives for our sustainable and digital transitions. Now the French Presidency is about to begin. It has set out great ambitions, from combating the climate crisis to the digital revolution, from fighting global inequalities to strengthening our democracies. I am looking forward to working with the French Presidency and am counting on it to continue to make progress on our major projects.

Honourable Members,

It has been a turbulent year. Thank you for all your unwavering support. Thank you very much for that. I know that you, like me, are looking forward to spending some time with your families and friends, so let me wish you Joyeux Noël ! Frohe Weihnachten! Merry Christmas!

Thank you.

Click here for the full press release

 

Original article link: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/SPEECH_21_6902

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