EU Leaders Summit Postponed as Virus Forces Chair to Quarantine

(Bloomberg) -- European Council President Charles Michel postponed a Sept. 24-25 meeting of the European Union’s 27 leaders because he has to quarantine -- the latest in a series of high-profile events disrupted by the pandemic ravaging the world.

The summit, which was scheduled for Thursday and Friday, is now planned to be held on Oct. 1-2. Michel, who chairs the meetings of EU leaders, was in close contact with a security officer who tested positive for Covid-19, according to a tweet by his spokesman. Michel tested negative as recently as yesterday.

The decision highlights how the pandemic has upended planning and policy-making for governments across the globe. From leaders’ meetings, to the summer Olympics in Japan and the World Economic Forum in Davos, numerous gatherings, which required expensive planning, had to be delayed or canceled.

In this week’s meeting, EU leaders were due to discuss the bloc’s relations with China and Turkey, as well as their industrial policy plans in the aftermath of the pandemic. The virus had previously forced them to hold key discussions about the bloc’s jointly-financed response to this year’s recession by teleconference.

Leaders only resumed in-person meetings in July, before a summer flare-up in new infections forced most European government to reinstate restrictions.

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