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Since the beginning of the current sanitary crisis EU leaders are pushing for greater independence especially from US and Chinese technologies. This concerns medical research as well as vaccines and the fight against epidemics. Nevertheless, the EU is a leading exporter of pharmaceutical goods -including vaccines- representing nearly one third of the world exports (Re.World Bank). However, on the occasion of the Coronavirus crisis many EU Member states have found that their public health still relied too much on goods and services from third countries. The Covid19 crisis has shown in particular Europe's dependence on foreign personal protective equipment (PPE). It should be added that European health authorities' responses to the crisis were poorly coordinated. In fact, many Member states have been selfish. Of course, health sovereignty does not mean that a country should stop cooperating with other countries. On the contrary, European countries must today invest much more in R&D and share these very heavy expenses fairly. Right now, the gravity of the situation requires political leaders to mobilize in order to create common strategic stocks to effectively combat infectious diseases.

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