In this context of sanitary crisis all around Europe, I hope that this European briefing finds you well and that all of you and your loved ones are well.
The present situation has affected our profession on many levels, also economically. A significant number of small animal practices report financial difficulties due to lockdown and it seems that mixed practices may also be subjected to this challenge.
If the crisis has important consequences in our daily veterinary work, this unprecedent context has also an influence on the work of the European institutions which is most exclusively focus on the response to the COVID-19 crisis. We believe that the crisis could represent an opportunity for the European Union to prove its added-value through a coordinated response to the crisis and a shared recovery plan. The Heads of State and Government made the first step regarding the building of an important recovery plan. However, lots of decision are still to be made and we hope that the European response will be ambitious enough to address the unprecedented challenges we are facing.
In the upcoming weeks, the daily work of the European institutions should slowly begin to come back to normal. We will keep monitoring the developments on key dossiers for veterinarians along with the consequences of the crisis for our profession at European level.
