A Call for Global Solidarity!

The COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on areas in which European and global solidarity were present, but also areas in which it was sorely lacking. At the beginning of the pandemic, we saw supplies being overstocked and pirated by EU member states, whilst citizens emptied supermarket shelves.

The G7 recently committed to one billion vaccine doses to lower income countries. But it’s less than 10% of the doses needed to reign in COVID-19 worldwide. To achieve this, we’ll need 11 billion doses to vaccinate 70% of the world’s population by next year, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Today, the wealthiest countries have bought enough doses to vaccinate their populations nearly 3 times over, whilst low-income countries are still struggling to vaccinate 10% of their population.

To beat the COVID-19 pandemic, we will need to engage in radical acts of solidarity; both within and outside of the European Union. How could the EU show leadership in global solidarity with its recovery funds, humanitarian aid, medical support and debt relief? What is the role of citizens at the international level?

As the Greens we believe that to overcome this global emergency, and build a better future, we must work with local, national, European and global partners, and focus on involving citizens through truly participatory processes. We will continue to fight for a strong European democracy as well as to ensure that the response to this crisis is not an attempt to simply go back to business as usual, but rather a push to embrace the radical change which is now more necessary than ever. The EU must show leadership in global solidarity with its recovery funds, humanitarian aid, medical support and debt relief. It must also profoundly reform its own trade policy and review its trade agreements with other countries, with the aim of building a more resilient and sustainable trade system.