At this week’s update, EPC Director of Studies Janis A. Emmanouilidis and EPC Chief Executive Fabian Zuleeg will share their analysis of the latest developments at EU and member state level, including on COVID-19 and Europe’s response to the ongoing crisis. The first part of this Friday Update will deal with Brexit and Germany’s upcoming Council Presidency. June was supposed to be a decisive month in the Brexit negotiations, but progress has been slow with both sides remaining far apart on key issues. Where do we go from here and how can a no deal Brexit at the end of the year be prevented? The global pandemic will strongly determine the priorities and prospects for the German Presidency in the second half of 2020. Germany is under pressure to turn this 'corona presidency' into a success, but can Berlin live up to the high expectations and help lay the groundwork for the EU27 to manage and emerge stronger from the crisis?
The second part of this Friday Update will focus on the prospects for EU health policy with EPC Policy Analyst Simona Guagliardo joining to discuss the main lessons to be learned from COVID-19 in terms of the Union’s role in health crisis management and health policy, more generally. What needs to be done to strengthen the management capacity of the EU in the event of future pandemics and what are the new health-related proposals telling us about future prospects for EU health policy?