For MEPs who were disappointed at being left out of the new European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA), the justifications put forward last week by the EU Commissioner for Health to the parliamentary committee were not sufficient (see EUROPE 12799/11).
MEPs have called for a debate in the plenary of the European Parliament on this subject. The meeting was held on Tuesday 5 October, again in the presence of Commissioner Stella Kyriakides, who was “ delighted” to have another opportunity to “explain and clarify” the situation.
The Commissioner essentially repeated the arguments that had already been put forward on several occasions: limited legal basis; the need to act quickly; budgetary constraints. She also re-emphasised that there was no question of excluding the European Parliament.
HERA, she stressed, will not be a typical Commission service, but a “shared resource”.
She noted that the European Parliament would have a seat on the HERA Board and gave assurances to MEPs that she had written to the Chair of the ENVI Committee to request that an MEP is nominated to fill this seat.
The debate did not, however, allow MEPs to obtain any additional guarantees or explanations.
All groups, nevertheless, once again expressed their dissatisfaction. The EPP, through Pernille Weiss (Denmark), requested – without elaborating on the subject – that the European Commission continue to build an initiative involving Parliament.
Sweden's Hélène Fritzon, on behalf of the S&D group, insisted that for HERA to be a successful initiative, it would be necessary to “consult with all parties concerned”.
French MEP Michèle Rivasi, speaking on behalf of the Greens/EFA, and Joëlle Mélin, on behalf of ID, respectively called on the European Commission to reconsider its position and denounced a move that was “undemocratic in terms of MEPs”.
On behalf of Renew Europe, Véronique Trillet-Lenoir, also from France, reiterated her call for HERA to award equal importance to civil society and industry. “We want to participate in its governance so that we can guide its actions on behalf of the Parliament – in other words, at a citizen level”, she insisted.
In addition, the MEP once again expressed her concerns, this time more strongly, about the absence of any reference to HERA in the regulation that is currently being negotiated between the Parliament and the EU Council on the EU’s future response to cross-border health threats (see EUROPE 12792/12).
“We want HERA to become an integral part of the regulation on cross-border threats, to which it is closely linked, and which will mean no time will be lost on its implementation”, she insisted.
The interinstitutional negotiations on this dossier should have begun last week, but were ultimately postponed at the request of the Parliament and in connection with HERA, according to our information. No date has been set yet for a further meeting. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)