Special Committee’s on the COVID-19 pandemic holds an exchange of views with Sandra Gallina, Director-General for Health and Food Safety. MEPs discuss the main challenges that the EU and its Member States faced in handling the COVID-19 pandemic, the health issues, how Advanced Purchase Agreements were drawn up, and the lessons learned for the future. Kathleen VAN BREMPT (S&D,BE), COVI Chair and Kathleen VAN BREMPT (S&D,BE) issues a statement.

VAN BREMPT, Kathleen (S&D, BE)

GALLINA, Sandra (IT)

EU's response to covid-19 (T)

Special Committee COVID-19 pandemic: lessons learned and recommendations for the future

COVID-19 pandemic: lessons learned and recommendations for the future - statement by Kathleen VAN BREMPT (S&D,BE), COVI Chair

Title: COVID-19 pandemic: lessons learned and recommendations for the future - statement by Kathleen VAN BREMPT (S&amp;D,BE), COVI Chair and Kathleen VAN BREMPT (S&amp;D,BE), COVI Chair

SOUNDBITE (English), Sandra GALLINA, EU&apos;s lead negotiator on Covid-19 vaccines contracts, COVID showed that we were not prepared for the emergencies. We were under resourced. We were under-resourced. Let me say to you, I give you two figures. 3% of the health budget goes to public health. Public health, I consider is a bit the software with which you do, so you take away medicines, hospitals, the what? You only have 3% for the policy for the public health and then you put next to it 3% of GDP, which was the cost of the lockdown. And you tell me if there isn't a bit of more ways to improve the public health budget.

SOUNDBITE (English), Sandra GALLINA, EU's lead negotiator on Covid-19 vaccines contracts, In my view, there is still insufficient capacity in the healthcare and insufficient flexibilities. 

SOUNDBITE (English), Sandra GALLINA, EU's lead negotiator on Covid-19 vaccines contracts, For the future, what we planted as seeds was a big package which was called Health Union on the 11th of November, and I mention it because it was the 11th of November under a German presidency. And, you know, I am very grateful to the presidency because it launched the seeds of a huge package where we had the revision of the EMA mandate, the ECDC mandate and the cross-border health threats, the last piece that we concluded finally before summer. 

SOUNDBITE (English), Sandra GALLINA, EU's lead negotiator on Covid-19 vaccines contracts, We will have consequences out of this, which is basically the proposals for the digital health space and the pharma strategy will not or are not the same after COVID. This is very important because we want solidarity and we want public health boosting.

SOUNDBITE (English), Sandra GALLINA, EU's lead negotiator on Covid-19 vaccines contracts, My lesson is that if you have a political will and this is the house of the political will, you can do it. Of course, having legal basis is better, at least for my colleagues who are lawyers. But for a philosopher, you don't care. You just go where you need to go, where politically you can go.

SOUNDBITE (English), Sandra GALLINA, EU's lead negotiator on Covid-19 vaccines contracts, You are the politicians. You drive the train. You tell us where to go. Because the demographics the demographics of Europe are telling us that it is not sustainable the way it is. You know, there is little health workforce, there is limited budgets. Medicines cost a lot. Some treatments for rare diseases cost millions millions. So let me say, is this the way you want to to deal just a joint procurement or let me say piecemeal? I don't think so.

SOUNDBITE (English), Kathleen VAN BREMPT (S&amp;D, BE), Chair COVI, What we do in the COVI committee is look at the lessons learned and from these lessons learned make recommendations for the future and how to make Europe much more crisis resilient. And not just on health. Of course, health is extremely important, but next to health, also on the socio economic, on the global vaccination and health strategy, and on our democracy and human rights.

SOUNDBITE (English), Kathleen VAN BREMPT (S&amp;D, BE), Chair COVI, If you're in a pandemic, then of course, the level of the national member states isn't enough. It's important. And most of health issues will remain at the national level. But you need a strong, united European Union and then you need competences, budget, expertize. And we lacked all three of them in the beginning of of of the pandemic. But I have to say, the commission did speed up all these efforts. And, of course, mistakes are made. Contracts should be better for the future. But at the same time, I think we acknowledge that we did manage to get the vaccines. And the most important thing is we just didn't get the vaccines. What we had an equal distribution within the European Union, not in the rest of the world, but that's for next hearings.