Emergency preparedness needs parliamentary oversight

"If we do something as enormous as buying billions of vaccines together, it must be totally transparent. We want the new European Health authority HERA, so that in the case of future health crises, the EU is better prepared to purchase necessary materials such as vaccines. But this new authority must be under the full democratic scrutiny of the Parliament", said Esther de Lange MEP, Vice-Chairwoman of the EPP Group responsible for Economy and Environment and for the cross-border health threats law.

The plenary of the European Parliament votes today on an update to the rules governing cross-border health threats, so as to include the planned new Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA).

"To be very clear: we want HERA to be set up as soon as possible. We want it to purchase the necessary materials such as vaccines without complicated and bureaucratic procedures, should another pandemic arise", emphasised Pernille Weiss MEP, who is in charge of HERA for the EPP Group.

"But we have to be vigilant. The way in which the European Commission started to build up HERA means the new authority would not be entirely independent and would not necessarily seek Parliament’s approval. This is why we call for a sunset clause to the current institutional model, so that HERA, as it stands now, can be updated to a stand-alone agency as soon as 2023", concluded de Lange and Weiss.