On Europe Day, around 20 MEPs called on the European Union to make health a priority.
The co-signatories, all health professionals, are recommending the creation of a Parliamentary body that would embody European health solidarity and sovereignty and that would make it possible to respond collectively to major public health challenges.
The appeal, co-signed by 21 MEPs from 13 Member States and the majority of the European Parliament’s political groups except the far right, was reported on Saturday 9 May in several European media.
“The European Parliament must put health and solidarity at the heart of its priorities through a specific body. The name and legal basis of this body is not important. What is important is to give it the appropriate means to carry out its activities in an autonomous, visible and permanent manner, starting with the immediate challenges of the coronavirus crisis”, they note.
This Parliamentary body, equipped with the expertise, agility and response capacity commensurate with the issues at stake, could have a coordinating role when necessary, according to the signatories. It should also promote joint research and coordination for the development of new treatments and vaccines. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)