| Author (Corporate) | European Commission: DG Health and Food Safety |
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| Series Details | COM (2021) 576 |
| Publication Date | 16/09/2021 |
| Content Type | Policy-making |
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Summary: Communication published by the European Commission on 16 September 2021, setting out the mission and reasoning behind the establishment of a European Health Emergency preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) in the context of the European Health Union. Further information: As the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic unfolded across the world, the European Commission put forward in November 2020 an agenda aimed at building a European Health Union. A Communication was later published in June 2021 addressing early lessons from the sanitary crisis, which highlighted the need for special arrangements in place to better react in times of health crisis. It showed that the pandemic revealed vulnerabilities in the European Union's health preparedness for and response to public health emergencies. A new Health Emergency preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) is set up to strengthen the European Union's ability to prevent, detect, and rapidly respond to cross-border health emergencies, by ensuring the development, manufacturing, procurement, and equitable distribution of key medical countermeasures. Its establishment takes place within the structure of the European Commission as a shared resource for Member States and EU alike, also allowing for a swift operationalisation, flexibility in its organisation and mobilisation of the Commission's existing powers, tools and programmes. It also builds on the work already carried out in the framework of the HERA Incubator, launched in February 2021. This Communication was published by the European Commission on 16 September 2021 in the context of the annual State of the European Union (SOTEU) address, and alongside a draft Council Regulation setting out the emergency framework regarding medical countermeasures. A Commission Decision establishing the HERA was also adopted together with the Communication. |
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| Source Link | Link to Main Source https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=COM:2021:576:FIN |
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| Subject Categories | Health |
| Subject Tags | Public Health, Risk | Crisis Management |
| International Organisations | European Union [EU] |
