Abstract: Under the framework of the EU health policy, the EU has been using the main mechanism for cross-border health threats to respond to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic. This mechanism stresses the importance of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, and encourages member states to exchange information and coordinate national responses to health threats through instruments such as the Early Warning and Response System (EWRS) and the Health Security Committee (HSC). Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the EU has been paying close attention to the development of the epidemic and has taken various measures to share information and coordinate responses among member countries. With the continuous spread of the International Forum·160·epidemic, many EU institutions and agencies have further strengthened the concerted responses among member states, focusing on mitigating the epidemic’s negative impact on society and the economy. The epidemic fully reflects the limitations of the EU’s response mechanism for dealing with cross-border health threats. Since the EU only has limited authority and member states are still the main actors responsible for health policy, the response from the EU level is restricted. The lack of effective coordination further weakens the EU’s response capacity. In addition, the European people’s values, behavioral patterns and lifestyle also make it difficult for the EU to effectively respond to cross-border health threats. Besides, Brexit also brings potential risks to the EU response.
Key Words: EU health policy, the COVID-19 epidemic, cross-border health threats, epidemic response mechanism
The Chinese version appeared in International Forum, 2020(04).