The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the absence of borders when a virus emerges and the importance of a joint approach. This is what the Portuguese Health Minister, Marta Temido, said on Thursday 4 February, when presenting the priorities of the Portuguese Presidency of the EU Council for the first 6 months of 2021 to the European Parliament's Committee on Public Health.
Portugal, where a slight decrease in coronavirus infections is beginning to emerge, is one of the EU countries hardest hit by the second wave of the pandemic. On the previous day, the medical staff sent by Germany as reinforcements arrived. A proof of European solidarity which Mrs Temido welcomed.
The Minister pledged to work to facilitate the development of national vaccination plans against Covid-19. She supported the words jointly expressed by the Portuguese Prime Minister, António Costa, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, that Europe can be proud of its pharmaceutical industry (see EUROPE 12649/1).
Acknowledging the delays in delivery, Mrs Temido stressed that it was essential for European companies to meet their delivery obligations. And to support the recent export control mechanism proposed by the European Commission which, at this stage, has authorised three requests (1 to the United Kingdom and 2 to Canada) (see EUROPE 12647/2).
Three political priorities
During her speech, the Minister insisted on three priorities: - strengthening the EU's response capacity to health crises; - access to medicines and medical devices; - the digital transition.
She remained relatively evasive about how the Portuguese Presidency intended to work on legislative dossiers, in particular the regulation on health technology assessments (see EUROPE 12649/4).
“There have been significant developments on this dossier under the German Presidency and our Presidency will do everything it can to ensure that this complex, sophisticated dossier can make further progress”, she replied to Véronique Trillet-Lenoir (Renew Europe, France).
Overall, the Minister gave her support to the Commission's proposals for a Health Union, including the strengthening of the mandate of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the conversion of the current Recommendation on cross-border health threats (see EUROPE 12600/24) into a Regulation.
Mrs Temido also supported the future EU Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA), which “will bring together technology companies and regulators to provide additional tools for the EU in the early detection of potentially dangerous pathogens”. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)