On Tuesday 7 December, EU health ministers will meet in Brussels for a final meeting under the Slovenian Presidency - a meeting that, although long overdue, is particularly timely.
The EU27 is facing a resurgence of the Covid-19 pandemic and is now faced with the appearance of the ‘Omicron’ variant (see EUROPE 12839/9, 12844/1).
Tuesday’s EU Council will therefore begin with an exchange of views on the subject. Ministers will be asked to decide on how to coordinate the detection and control of the new variant.
They will also be asked about their position on the vaccination for under-12 year olds, the “challenges” encountered in rolling out booster and paediatric vaccination campaigns, and the timing of these campaigns.
Finally, they will be asked about their willingness to engage in joint procurement of Covid-19 therapeutics and to allow HERA (see EUROPE 12792/24) to stockpile them.
Future crises. The EU Council will also be asked to approve conclusions on strengthening the Health Union. The draft conclusions had already been discussed for the first time by the EU27 in Ljubljana last October (see EUROPE 12810/5).
Ministers are not expected, however, to support the Presidency’s draft compromise on the draft regulation on the European management of medical countermeasures in the event of a cross-border health emergency (see EUROPE 12832/19). As mentioned yesterday in our columns, some national delegations believe that it is still too early to aim for an agreement on this file (see EUROPE 12845/21).
Finally, the EU Council will be an opportunity for the European Commission to inform ministers on the implementation of the EU Pharmaceutical Strategy - recently debated in the European Parliament (see EUROPE 12838/13).
The French delegation, which will hold the rotating Presidency of the EU Council starting next January, will also take advantage of this meeting to present its health priorities. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)