The EU is trying to get its member states to coordinate their response to the coronavirus epidemic while offering what help it can to badly affected countries such as Italy. But its financial firepower is limited and Brussels has no power to tell countries what to do on healthcare matters beyond appealing to their sense of "solidarity" when the likes of Germany restrict exports of protective equipment. Here are some of the measures the EU has announced in recent days: The European Commission announced a "Corona response investment initiative" activating 7.5 billion euros of unused EU subsidies, which Brussels hopes member states will use to mobilise up to 25 billion euros themselves. The commission intends to revise the guidelines for governments providing state aid to firms that get into difficulty because of the virus. EU finance ministers meeting on Monday are also expected to waive certain spending rules for countries caught by the crisis, especially heavily-indebted Italy. With airlines suffering from dramatically falling passenger numbers, the EU is moving to relax rules requiring carriers to fly at least 80 percent of the time to hold on to take-off and landing slots at airports. The rules have led to airlines running empty or near-empty "ghost flights" just to maintain their slots, putting them under further financial strain. Details of the change are not yet clear but the commission says it wants to relax the slot rules to ease the burden on airlines and reduce needless emissions. The commission has allocated 140 million euros to advance research into a COVID-19 vaccine and improve diagnosis and treatment options. Europe is short of protective equipment in part due to bottlenecks in China, the worst-affected country by the virus. The commission has tried to remedy the situation by means of joint procurement, but with little success so far because of supply shortages. The first consignments are not expected to arrive before April. Meanwhile, Industry Commissioner Thierry Breton is trying to get European manufacturers to speed up production. While a common approach is difficult because of differences in the spread of the virus and unilateral measures taken by national governments, the EU is trying to improve the flow of information between member states. To this end, health and interior ministers from the 27 EU states are now holding daily telephone conferences. bur-pdw/dc/har