Italian ambassador Maurizio Massari said Brussels needed to “go beyond engagement and consultations” and devise “emergency actions that are quick, concrete and effective”.

A flashpoint has been the failure of member states to respond to a call by Italy for extra supplies of medical equipment, including masks.

Germany and France are among the EU countries to have imposed limits on the export of protective medical equipment, while China has offered to sell Italy 1,000 lung ventilators, 2m masks, 20,000 protective suits and 50,000 swabs for coronavirus tests.

“We must ensure, under EU coordination, the supply of the necessary medical equipment and its redistribution among those countries and regions most in need,” Massari wrote on Politico’s website.

“Today, this means Italy; tomorrow, the need could be elsewhere. Italy has already asked to activate the European Union mechanism of civil protection for the supply of medical equipment for individual protection. But unfortunately not a single EU country responded to the commission’s call. Only China responded bilaterally. Certainly this is not a good sign of European solidarity.”

This is reflected in this cartoon drawn by one of the Italian expressing gratitude to China's help on twitter.