The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, today proposed an international treaty on pandemics within the framework of the World Health Organization, while participating by video message in the Special Session of the UN General Assembly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic on 3 and 4 December 2020.

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When confronted with future pandemics, an international treaty, anchored in collective mobilisation and solidarity, would enable the international community to better anticipate, prepare for and manage future pandemics. The success of this collective action has been demonstrated in developing safe and effective vaccines in record time.

President Michel enumerated a number of areas such a treaty could address:

• risk monitoring;
• better financing and coordination of research;
• a more efficient system of alerts and information sharing;
• improving access to healthcare;
• resilience: strengthening healthcare systems and securing supply chains.