Yesterday, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen announced the decision to restrict the export of medical masks and protective garments outside of the EU.
Producers or distributors will need explicit authorization of the EU government to export these medical goods to non-EU countries. The EC President stated that the purpose of this restriction is to keep this medical equipment within the EU in this time of crisis.
In a post on Twitter, von der Leyen said that in order to protect health workers in the EU, they have adopted the export authorisation scheme. This is the right thing to do because we need them for our healthcare systems, she said.
European response to the #coronavirus: Protecting people‘s health and ensuring that goods flow in the internal market pic.twitter.com/9JNBzHjqvc
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) March 15, 2020
This restriction will directly harm candidate countries, including Albania. From now on, the country will only be able to import the necessary medical equipment to handle the COVID-19 pandemic from outside the EU.
