Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-06-13-Speech-2-263"
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"en.20060613.27.2-263"2
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"I am afraid that this is my second interaction today with the honourable Member, Mr Staes, and I have to disappoint him for a second time in one afternoon.
Even though the idea and the proposal are very interesting and would have been worth exploring in the past, we have already reached a very advanced level of cooperation at various levels within and outside the European Union on avian flu, not only as regards a possible pandemic but also on the animal health side. Therefore, we feel that, at this point, it would not offer any added value to have any more coordinating bodies. I should like to assure the honourable Member that the tasks this task force would have performed are already at very advanced stages – if not completed – in the European Union. That also applies to the WHO, WHO Europe, the G8 and other international organisations. We therefore feel that adding another coordinating group could have the negative effect of confusing responsibilities which have already clearly been defined.
We believe strongly in close collaboration with our different partners and we have already reached an advanced stage there. We hold joint meetings of the chief health officers, the chief veterinary officers and all the experts on animal and human health. We are also funding various research projects. For example, we have launched a major initiative on the development of pandemic influenza vaccines.
On the availability of research data, the European Centre for Disease Control is already active in making such data available and early-warning networks for outbreaks in humans and animals are already in place. The creation very recently of an EU-wide network of media officers is also a major step.
In the area of seasonal vaccination coverage, I remind health ministers repeatedly of the WHO objectives and the advantage of extending and expanding the coverage of seasonal influenza vaccination in readiness for a possible pandemic.
In terms of global partnership, the European Union is actively engaged in close collaboration with China and the United States – these are the two international initiatives brought together after the Beijing conference. Only last week we had the follow-up meeting in Vienna, in which we discussed practical ways of taking this forward. It is true that there was a delay in delivering the funds pledged in Beijing. Nevertheless, the decision has now been taken to proceed as quickly as possible. It is very appropriate that the next meeting on this issue will take place in Africa, which is a region that has recently been affected.
Nevertheless, and in conclusion, I should like to say that we are always open to suggestions. We do not have any prejudices and are not afraid of sharing views, responsibilities and cooperation. We are always open to ideas and suggestions that would improve both the effectiveness of our preparedness measures and collaboration at both EU and international level."@en1
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