Recital 4

(4) It was possible for the Council, through the Integrated Political Crisis Response (IPCR) arrangements, to exchange information and coordinate certain actions with regard to the COVID-19 crisis, while Member States acted independently in other situations. However, actions by the Commission were delayed by several weeks due to the lack of Union-wide contingency planning measures and a lack of clarity as to which national authority should be contacted to find rapid solutions to the impact of the crisis on the internal market. In addition, it became clear that uncoordinated restrictive actions taken by the Member States would further aggravate the impact of the crisis on the internal market. It emerged that there is a need for arrangements between the Member States and Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies as regards contingency planning, technical level coordination and cooperation, and information exchange. Additionally, it became clear that the lack of effective coordination between Member States exacerbated the shortages of goods and created more obstacles to the free movement of services and persons.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-10-27 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.