Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-06-13-Speech-2-154"
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"Mr President, I should like first of all to congratulate the rapporteur for the very good and constructive work which he has done on this report and, of course, the members of the committee who worked with him. I address this report with satisfaction and joy, because I can see that the European Parliament and the European Commission are addressing such a serious issue in the same manner, with the same perception and the same approach.
As I said at the beginning, most of the measures which will be taken to prepare for a pandemic come mainly within the competence of the Member States. However, the European Commission will continue to coordinate and to have the initiative, to have a decisive role in this preparation with exercises, with laboratories and with working parties, even at ministerial level, but of course we consider Parliament's contribution to be particularly important in this endeavour.
As far as we as the European Commission are concerned, we shall exhaust all our practical, technical and legal potential in order to achieve the highest possible level of preparedness in the European Union.
Of course, I must stress from the beginning that we are talking about the possibility of a pandemic, about a possible pandemic. It is not a certainty. It may happen as a result of the bird 'flu virus, it may happen as a result of some other virus, it may not happen at all. However, the fact that it is a possibility, despite the fact that our scientists indicate to us that it is a very slight possibility, does not give us any justification for not preparing ourselves satisfactorily, adequately, suitably and as much as possible. This is perhaps the first time in human history that we have forewarning, that we have certain messages that such a pandemic may occur. This preparation needs to be carried out not only at national level but also at Community level.
As regards the report, I feel particularly satisfied, because most of what the report asks us to do we have either already achieved or we are in the process of covering and achieving. Of course, I always consider the contribution and cooperation of the European Parliament particularly important in our endeavour. I refer to the example of the Solidarity Fund, which will help in the event of a pandemic to cover pharmaceutical requirements in terms of vaccines and anti-virals.
It is about just over a year since the first time we debated this issue in plenary and I must say that we have achieved a great deal since then. We now have national preparedness and response plans in all the Member States, we have the Community preparedness plan, the one we are debating today, we tested all the plans in a simulation exercise last November and now we are in the process of improving these plans on the basis of the weaknesses identified during that exercise.
There is very close cooperation with the World Health Organisation. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the ECDC, has taken on a leading role in this sector and will soon take charge of the early warning system. I agree with the need for communication and information as regards the citizens and we have already started working on this sector; we have organised meetings of the competent representatives of the Ministries of Health in the Member States and with all the competent organisations on how we shall handle messages to the public in the event of a crisis and now we are proceeding with seminars and workshops with media, so that we can inform them, so that we can update them and develop cooperation which will be applied in the event of a crisis. We are making progress on the question of creating a pandemic vaccine. The European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products is cooperating in this sector, we are cooperating with industry, we are investing in research and we are trying to speed up the procedures and, of course, to increase the production capacity of the pharmaceutical industry.
As regards anti-virals, we have already achieved double the production capacity of anti-viral drugs compared with the previous year and now the challenge is for the Member States to make use of this capacity. It is within their competence to place the necessary orders. Today, especially in this sector, we are in a much better position than we were last year. By the end of the year, we shall be able to say that in total 16.5% of the European population will be covered. However, this is slightly misleading, because it is not the same level in each Member State. Some Member States have over 25% coverage and others have almost nothing. It is, therefore, extremely important that we set the necessary targets and cover these states with anti-viral drugs.
As regards the stockpile strategy, I agree with the committee's view, but I would remind you that this subject was initially raised by two Member States, Belgium and France; it was not the Commission's proposal, it is a matter which comes within the competence of the Member States. The Commission has made no effort to extend or increase its competences and powers, but we did accept this suggestion, because we see the usefulness of there being a European stockpile strategy to the same standards as the World Health Organisation stockpile. It will cover the Member States until such time as they acquire their national stockpile and could also cover neighbouring countries and be used strategically as a fire-fighting measure with the first cases of a pandemic, in order to give the Member States the facility to address a prolonged pandemic. There is no legal basis for this at Community level. It would need to be with the unanimous agreement of the Member States, who would have to finance such an endeavour.
Unfortunately, in the debate held last September it appeared that a very small number of Member States opposed in principle the creation of this strategic stockpile. The overwhelming majority supported the matter in principle, but a very large number of Member States were not prepared to cover these requirements from national funds.
I believe that, in light of these positions by the Member States, there is no margin for continuing this debate or for continuing work on this issue. What is important now is for every Member State to accept its responsibilities and to set and cover its national targets. To continue an already prolonged debate without there being any prospect on the horizon of agreement merely sends out the wrong message and raises false hopes, especially for both the citizens and the Member States that need this stockpile today, which is why it is better for everyone to know where they stand and, consequently, each Member State will take its own responsibilities."@en1
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