EU seeks power to declare health emergencies undermining WHO

The European Commission on Wednesday proposed new rules which would essentially enable the EU to declare a health emergency. In addition, this would allow the EU to test individual national plans in place to tackle pandemics.

A blow to the World Health Organization (WHO), which has historically taken such calls, this could signal a shift in WHO-centric health policy outlook.

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The reaction to COVID-19 among 27 EU countries has been uncoordinated, which is why some countries have managed it amiably, while others have faltered. Currently, Europe is witnessing a second-wave of coronavirus infections, with numbers increasing across all major countries. Many have also reimposed lockdowns.

Owing to the unequal response and preparation, many EU countries were seen competing for medical gear and other paraphernalia.

WHO criticised

The WHO has faced global criticism for undermining the severity of COVID-19, and fordeclaring it a pandemic too late. The WHO, though denies all such claims.

The proposals state that the EU would be able to declare a pan-EU public health emergency, which they would facilitate coordination among EU states. As of now, the union has to rely on the WHO before declaring such emergencies.

"The new rules will enable the activation of EU emergency response mechanisms… without making it contingent upon the WHO's own declaration of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern," an EU document says, Reuters reported. However, all such responses would be in coordination with the WHO.

EU states want reform in the WHO, and believe that they had relied on the organisation too heavily during the pandemic.

"We relied too much on the WHO for the COVID-19 pandemic," Peter Liese, lawmaker from German Chancellor Angela Merkel's party said.

"Under pressure from China, the WHO declared the health emergency too late. It is therefore very important to have the possibility to act at European level in future similar situations”, Liese added.

The incumbent US President Donald Trump had labelled WHO a puppet of China.