Extraordinary EU summit convened to address coronavirus

European Union leaders are set to hold a teleconference "shortly" to discuss a coordinated EU response to the coronavirus outbreak, the president of the European Council Charles Michel said in a tweet on Monday.

An unnamed EU official said the call was likely to take place on Tuesday.

The next official EU summit is to take place on 26-27 March, but as the coronavirus situation is deteriorating rapidly, EU leaders will need to consult even before the previously agreed date. 

A few EU members states have already held a teleconference on Monday morning, in which Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has also partaken.

The last EU summit was held on 20 February, when the 27 EU heads of state and government were to reach an agreement on teh 2021-2027 multi-annual financial framework (MFF). The attempt failed and Charles Michel adjourned the meeting at the end of the next day. 

Following consultations I will hold a members conference call shortly on -19 to coordinate efforts. We need to cooperate in order to protect the health of our citizens. #EUCO

— Charles (Michel) March 9, 2020

Cover photo by: Mario Salerno, European Union, European Council media bank

This article is part of the work programme titled "The impacts of EU cohesion policy in Hungary - Present and Future" which is carried out by Net Média Zrt., the publisher of Portfolio.hu, between 1st April 2019 and 31st March 2020 with European Union financing. The views in this article solely reflect the opinions of the author. The European Commission as the funding entity does not take any responsibility for the use of information presented in this article.