“More solidarity and less bureaucracy. This is the answer that the European Union should and will give to the corona crisis”, this is the assessment of the health spokesperson of the biggest group in the European Parliament (EPP, Christian democrats) Dr. Peter Liese. Liese expressed his gratitude to all the people that fight against the corona crisis and treat patients. He explained that patients from the most affected countries, for example France and Italy, are now finally also treated abroad, for example in Germany. “When my group approved a resolution two weeks ago, and even last week when this resolution became public, many people did not believe that member states would really be ready to help, but I am very happy that it is now really working. Also material such as ventilation machines are sent from other European countries to the most affected ones and the European Commission is establishing a crisis mechanism so that the ventilation machines can be used always where the largest need is”, explained Liese. He also expressed confidence that many obstacles which unfortunately hinder the fight against the crisis will be abolished already this week. “All the funds that are available should be focused on fighting the crisis now. This will be approved by the European Parliament in an extraordinary meeting already on Thursday. Most of us are not meeting physically, but we are doing a remote session and also remote voting. We want to be a good example because a strong advice from scientists is that meetings should be avoided whenever possible”, expressed Liese.


He also called for a general postponement of the implementation of the new medical device regulation. “All the companies that produce medical devices should now focus on the production of the necessary material like masks and ventilation machines. The bureaucratic burden of the new regulation would hinder this, however. That is why I ask for an immediate postponement of the implementation”, said Liese.

Finally, Liese expressed confidence that most of the European countries will be able to avoid a situation as in Italy or in the Spanish capital Madrid. “After some time lack, most countries have understood the urgency and have implemented strong measures. We need to keep these measures at least for some weeks. If this will be applied, I am optimistic that an over-burdening of the health system will not happen in most of the member states. I am also optimistic that clinical trials supported by the European Union and the development of the vaccine will be faster than under normal circumstances”, concluded Liese.