Article – Covid-19: €3 billion emergency support for national health care systems

Europe’s health sectors are under extreme pressure because of the Covid-19 outbreak. The EU is mobilising an additional €3.08 billion to support national healthcare systems in fighting the pandemic and providing medical services to patients in need. The measures were approved by MEPs on 17 April.

The initiative serves to coordinate resource distribution and cross-border cooperation, with a focus on the most affected regions. It will help with the construction of field hospitals and coordinate and financially support the transportation of corona patients to hospitals with free capacity.

The money will also be used to directly purchase and distribute medical supplies such as respirators, protective equipment and reusable masks. Other actions are possible, depending on the needs of EU countries. In the longer term, the funds will improve medical research and testing capacities in EU countries.

The funds come from all remaining available means in this year’s budget.

• €2.7 billion will be put into the EU’s Emergency Support Instrument
• €380 million will go to the rescEU reserve of medical equipment