EU government responses to the coronavirus pandemic

In 2016, the EU Global Strategy acknowledged the need for effective ‘prevention, detection and responses to global pandemics’. While only some countries declared an official state of emergency (Figure 2), armed forces have been among the first responders in almost all Member States. Non-exhaustive examples of key military contributions in various Member States are outlined below. The selection aims for broad geographical coverage, but also to illustrate the different military responses.