SUU, Alm.del - 2019-20 - Bilag 593: Opfølgning på det interparlamentariske møde den 7. september 2020 om pandemien

Sundheds- og Ældreudvalget 2019-20
SUU Alm.del Bilag 593
Offentligt

Europe in the pandemic:

research and innovation for a more resilient health system

Summary of the Chair

On 7 September 2020, the chairpersons of the committees on health, research and digital affairs

of the national parliaments and the European Parliament took part in a video conference as part

of the parliamentary dimension of the Presidency of the Council of the EU. In the two conference

sessions, the participating Members of Parliament discussed the subject of Europe in the

pandemic:

research and innovation for a more resilient health system .

Thomas Oppermann, Vice-President of the Bundestag, opened the conference and welcomed the

participants. By way of introduction, he emphasized the seriousness of the health-related,

economic, social and financial challenges with which the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic

had confronted Europe and the whole world. The most important political task for the EU and its

Member States, he said, was to do everything in their power to ensure that Europe emerged

stronger from this crisis and to cooperate even more closely so as to be better prepared for similar

situations in the future.

In the

first session,

entitled

Solidarity and sovereignty for a more resilient health system in

Europe”,

the focus was on the following key questions: What lessons should be learned from the

COVID-19 pandemic for the health policies of the EU and its member states, and what could be

done better in response to a second wave

? What specific action can be taken to improve

cooperation among EU member states in health matters? How can the EU and its member states

improve the supply of important medicinal products and make themselves less dependent on

imports? How can digital options be more effectively harnessed for crisis management?

Sandra Gallina, Deputy Director-General in the Directorate General for Health and Food Safety

at the European Commission,

reported on the progress made by the Commission towards

ensuring access to safe and effective vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus as well as on other

measures that were being taken to improve health care and the provision of medical devices and

protective equipment. She also outlined a number of measures that were planned or had been

introduced to make the EU as a whole more resistant to health crises and to ensure cooperation

and exchanges of views, ideas and information in the field of health policy.

Dr Peter Liese, a member of the European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Public

Health and Food Safety,

emphasised in his keynote speech that the European Union

–

not least

in light of the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic

–

must treat health policy as a top priority

so as to protect the health of its citizens.

Dr Andrea Ammon, Director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC),

reported on the responsibilities of the agency and on the current health situation. She also

7 September 2020

SUU, Alm.del - 2019-20 - Bilag 593: Opfølgning på det interparlamentariske møde den 7. september 2020 om pandemien

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" "" \* MERGEFORMAT Europe in the pandemic:

research and innovation for a more resilient health system

Summary of the Chair

stressed that reinforcing the ECDC and integrating it into a uniform EU-wide reporting system

could play a vital part in ensuring the analysis of future risks to public health and, in the long

term, the development of better defence mechanisms. At the same time, she said, such action was

one of the main keys to shaping future cooperation among member states in the health sector so

as to make it more effective. She also emphasized that it was essential not to lose sight of flu

vaccinations in autumn and winter, because they would prevent additional pressure on health

systems. There was still a long way to go, she said, in the fight against the epidemic.

The

conference presidency

emphasised that the interoperability of tracing apps was a major

building block in an effective strategy against the COVID-19 pandemic, since chains of infection

did not end at national borders, while EU citizens, of course, had still been crossing borders

between member states during the pandemic. The interoperability of these apps was a key to

their effectiveness and to their acceptance and use by the general public.

Dr Manuel Pizarro, a substitute member of the European Parliament Committee on the

Environment, Public Health and Food Safety,

argued that existing COVID-19 measures should

not be hastily revoked if a second wave was to be prevented or curbed. Europe, he said, must also

be sovereign in matters concerning the procurement of medical materials and equipment. He

commented positively on the cooperation taking place with regard to a vaccine.

The lively

discussion

that followed focused on the identification of lessons that could be learned

from the COVID-19 pandemic. There was agreement that the health sector in the EU should

receive more financial resources and that digital strategies to combat the COVID-19 pandemic

must be promoted. The participants also expressed support for closer cooperation and better

exchanging of information among member states. In particular, it was agreed that solidarity

among member states was needed in dealing with the pandemic. Individual member states going

it alone and pursuing purely nationally focused policies would only make it more difficult to

combat the virus.

In their closing remarks, the

conference presidency

reaffirmed these expectations regarding the

consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the task of policymakers in the EU and the

member states, they said, to ensure, even in crises, that the population were supplied at all times

with important medicinal products and medical equipment. A common European Health Data

Space would make it easier to coordinate responses to pandemic developments in the EU and to

exchange knowledge about the virus. To this end, the spread of digital technology must be

accelerated. The opportunities offered by digital resources such as tracing apps and their

usefulness were heavily dependent on whether the EU member states managed to harness the

existing technological options and to use them for cross-border cooperation.

Accordingly, the

participants

expressed support for better preparation and coordination of joint

crisis-response actions and for reinforcement of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and

Control (ECDC) and its integration into an EU-wide reporting system. European cooperation to

combat the pandemic was important, but it was up to the member states first and foremost to

reshape their own health systems.

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" "" \* MERGEFORMAT Europe in the pandemic:

research and innovation for a more resilient health system

Summary of the Chair

The

second session,

devoted to

cross-border cooperation in health research and European

research funding to support sustainable crisis management,

addressed the following key

questions: What measures can help to enhance health research in the EU? Are the existing

research networks in Europe adequate as channels of knowledge exchange on COVID-19 and as

weapons in the fight against future pandemics? Which fields of research should be prioritised for

support, given the need to combat COVID-19 and future pandemics? How can better use be made

of digital solutions in this area?

Jean-Eric Paquet, Director-General in the Directorate General for Research and Innovation at

the European Commission

stressed in his keynote speech that a global answer to the COVID-19

pandemic had to be found. In particular, he said, closer cooperation was needed between science

and business. Knowledge had to be exchanged in an interdisciplinary framework, and the

potential of artificial intelligence, analytics and digital data collection as well as the existing

European networks and expert groups had to be fully utilized. On the positive side, he

emphasized that Europe had been better prepared for the pandemic in the realm of research than

in other fields. In particular, he said, groups of experts and research platforms had been created

to seek ways of dealing with the virus.

Professor Christian Drosten, Director of the Institute of Virology at the Charité university

hospital in Berlin,

addressed the question of how existing research networks in the EU could be

made even better at exchanging information on COVID-19 and at combating future pandemics. To

this end, he said, there was a particular need for incentives from the EU to use these networks

and to present member states’ research findings

in a transparent and accessible way. It was

important that research findings should be comparable, he said, so that member states could

exchange data. He also urged that a portion of European research funding should be invested in

the Global South, particularly for the training of medical staff. Communication between

scientists, the public and politicians played a crucial role, he said, while emphasizing that

further improvement was needed in communicating with and informing the public so that people

understood the nature of political decisions, as scientists only made proposals but politicians

took the decisions.

In the subsequent

discussion,

the parliamentarians exchanged views on the measures they

believed would enhance health research in the EU and on the fields of research they thought

should be prioritised in the light of COVID-19 and potential future pandemics. The participants

also discussed ways in which cooperation could be pursued with non-EU countries.

The

concluding remarks

highlighted the importance of the role played by research and

innovation, as well as cross-border cooperation, in guaranteeing a resilient health system. The

conference presidency also emphasised that only joint action could meet challenges such as the

COVID-19 pandemic. The conference, they said, sent a signal to the member state governments

and MEPs involved in the negotiations on the Multiannual financial framework urging them not

to cut the funding of programmes for research support or for scientific and educational exchanges

in Europe, for every euro invested in research, science and personal exchanges as part of the

educational biography of Europeans paid multiple dividends. It was there, they said, that the

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" "" \* MERGEFORMAT Europe in the pandemic:

research and innovation for a more resilient health system

Summary of the Chair

foundations were laid for a stronger sense of European identity and for a responsible and

internationally competitive research sector, which was important when it came to developing a

common preventive strategy for future crises. The conference presidency emphasized the need

for a European strategy and national strategies. As originally laid down in the Lisbon Strategy,

they stressed, over and above EU research funding, each member state must devote an amount

corresponding to 3% of its GDP to research, and it was more urgent than ever that this target be

pursued, in some cases with the assistance of the private sector.

For the core tasks and objectives that were debated at the conference, please see the conclusions

of the presidency.

For the conference presidency

Erwin Rüddel

Chair of the Committee on Health

Dr Ernst Dieter Rossmann

Chair of the Committee on

Education, Research and Technology

Assessment

Manuel Höferlin

Chair of the Committee on the

Digital Agenda