Lifting COVID-19 containment measures: Joint European Roadmap

On 15 April 2020, the European Commission and European Council issued a joint communication – the Joint European Roadmap (Roadmap) – directed at EU Member States regarding an exit strategy for the various containment measures currently in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Timing of the exit

The Roadmap first of all acknowledges the need of the various restrictive measures that have been put in place as well as the significant social and economic costs thereof. On the contours of a future exit strategy, the Roadmap indicates that the timing for exit will need to depend on reliable data. The Roadmap lists three relevant criteria to assess whether the time has come for exiting the containment measures:

1. Epidemiological criteria showing that the spread of the disease has significantly decreased and stabilised for a sustained period of time;
2. Sufficient health system capacity so that national health care systems can cope with future increases in cases after lifting of the measures; and
3. Appropriate monitoring capacity, including large-scale testing capacity combined with contact tracing and possibilities to isolate people.

Coordination and accompanying exit measures

The Roadmap points out that Member States, when lifting measures, (i) should base their action on science and have public health at its centre, (ii) should coordinate with other Member States and (iii) should consider respect and solidarity between Member States (encouraging in this respect the treatment of citizens of other Member States).

Next, the Roadmap sets out the accompanying measures to be taken by Member States – with the assistance and support of the European Union – when lifting the containment measures:

• Member States should gather data and develop a robust system of reporting.
• Member States should create a framework for contact tracing and warning with the use of mobile apps, which respects data privacy.
• Member States should expand testing capacity and harmonise testing methodologies including (i) the development and ramping up of sustained COVID-19 diagnostic capacity, (ii) the set-up of adequate testing schemes and (iii) the roll-out of self-testing kits.
• Member States should increase the capacity and the resilience of health care systems.
• Member States should continue to increase the medical and personal protective equipment capacity.

The Roadmap also stresses that the development of a safe and effective vaccine is crucial. In that regard, the European Commission confirms that it is streamlining the required regulatory steps, from clinical trials to marketing authorisations, in close cooperation with the European Medicines Agency. The Roadmap further notes the need to stimulate the development of safe and effective treatments and medicines. From its side, the EU (i) is financing access to supercomputing and artificial intelligence know-how in this respect, (ii) will streamline the required regulatory steps and (iii) encourages setting up large, as much as possible EU-wide clinical trials.

Recommendations on the way forward

The Roadmap sets out the following recommendations:

• exit measures – including the re-start of the economic activities and allowing gatherings of people – should be taken gradually;
• general measures should progressively be replaced by targeted ones;
• measures with a local impact should be lifted before measures having a broader geographic coverage;
• internal EU border measures should be lifted in a coordinated manner (as opposed to the taking of the measures which was not coordinated at all) and should take place before the lifting of external EU border measures;
• efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19 should be sustained; and
• action should be continuously monitored.

Finally, the Roadmap stresses the importance of EU coordination and cooperation. This should avoid negative spill-overs between Member States and mutually reinforce the implementation of measures across different Member States. The European Commission and European Council indicate in this respect that they may issue further EU guidance which will take into account the evolution of the health emergency and the impact on the Internal Market.

Comment

The Roadmap does not set out an exact timeline or exact conditions of the measures being lifted which remains entirely up to the Member States and which depends on scientific data. As a result, there will necessarily continue to be differences in the Member States’ approaches. However, the Roadmap is meant to lay a foundation for better cooperation between Member States. It also encourages Member States to (continue to) base their decision-making on a scientific basis.

More guidance is to be expected in particular as regards the lifting of measures of the internal EU border measures. It concerns in particular an area where the EU can be expected to play an important role but where it arguably has failed to take significant action so far.

We continue to closely monitor the situation. Should you need assistance, have any further questions regarding this client alert or EU-law generally, please do not hesitate to contact any of your usual contacts within Simmons & Simmons.

See our coronavirus (COVID-19) feature for more information generally on the possible legal implications of COVID-19.