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EU Member States must provide joint travel recommendations for affected regions and further develop unified vaccination recommendations


Concerns far removed from a Corona-like scenario / Alarming rate of child fatalities in Africa / Solidarity with affected countries



"The EU member states should provide a coordinated response to the outbreak of the new Clade Ib variant of the Mpox virus in Africa and other parts of the world," stated the health policy spokesperson for the largest group in the European Parliament (EPP-Christian Democrats), Dr. Peter Liese, ahead of a discussion by the Committee on the Environment, Public Health, and Food Safety in the European Parliament on Wednesday.

Prompted by the EPP Group, the European Commission, the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) responsible for vaccine procurement, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) will address questions from the Members of Parliament. The meeting is set for Wednesday morning at about 09:30. "Although two Europeans1 have now been affected, we must remain composed and not overreact. There is no indication that Mpox will affect nearly as many people in Europe or cause as many deaths as COVID-19. The hygienic conditions in Europe are much better than in the affected region of Africa, so the risk of infection is much lower. Furthermore, medical care seems to play an extremely significant role in determining whether an affected patient survives. In a clinical trial for a relevant medication, it was found, that survival rates drastically increased with treatment. However, even those who received a placebo survived much more frequently, simply because they received proper medical care by being included in the clinical trial2," Liese said.

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But some points should have been better explained / Blackening of information was done at the request of companies, as need for vaccines was immense / Overall the joint vaccine procurement was a success


The General Court of the European Union (formerly known as the Court of First Instance) has largely upheld the European Commission's decisions in matters of vaccine procurement. Many points, which were legally contested by individual Members of the European Parliament and a group of vaccine opponents from France, were deemed unobjectionable by the court. However, the court also noted that the Commission should have better explained why certain passages were blackened.

“The vaccine procurement by the European Commission was, overall, a great success. It is unimaginable what would have happened if various European countries had vaccines while others did not. It was also important that the European Commission was actively engaged throughout the pandemic, especially in the spring of 2021, to quickly secure more vaccines,” explained Peter Liese, the health policy spokesperson for the largest group in the European Parliament (EPP Christian Democrats).

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Peter Liese: At least individual cases to be expected in all European countries, but EU is well prepared / Vaccine for risk groups are already available / Member States should use EU instruments to act in a coordinated manner / Miles away from ‘corona’ scenario, but vigilance and targeted action necessary / Aid for Africa a humanitarian imperative and in our own interest

 “The European Union is well prepared for the outbreak of the new variant of Mpox (formerly ‘monkeypox’) clade I type 2,” said Dr Peter Liese, health spokesperson for the largest political group in the European Parliament (EPP, Christian Democrats), in view of the second official case of Mpox outside Africa. On Thursday evening, it became known that a European who had travelled from Africa to Thailand had been infected with the new variant of Mpox. “Due to the intensive travel activity between the affected African countries and Europe, I expect that there will be at least individual cases in all European countries. Nevertheless, we should all remain calm. Vaccines are already available and the risk groups can be vaccinated at short notice. The European institutions, in particular the Commission's newly created unit ‘HERA’ (European Health Emergency Response Authority), have concluded a contract with the German-Danish vaccine manufacturer Bavarian Nordic for the supply of 2 million vaccine doses in 2022. In addition, vaccine doses worth around 86 million euros are available via the RescEU mechanism. These are supplemented by contracts concluded by the individual member states. In addition to securing vaccine, the European Union has also strengthened the structures in the European ‘health authority’ ECDC and the European Medicines Agency EMA after Corona,” emphasised Liese.

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Cardiovascular Health Action Plan and Mental Health Action Plan should follow a very successful Cancer Plan

“The prompt revision of the Medical Device Regulation and the adoption of a Critical Medicine Act to fight and overcome the shortage of critical medicines are top priorities of the biggest group in the European Parliament (EPP Christian Democrats) for the next parliamentary term,” this has been announced in a video conference for journalists by the health spokesperson of the group, Dr. Peter Liese. To prepare the discussion with other groups as well as the talks with the Commission, the EPP discussed the priorities in their closed meeting last week. “The Medical Device Regulation was well-intended, but in some areas, it creates more harm than good. In particular, devices for children that suffer from heart diseases, for example, are really in danger because the bureaucratic burden is so high that companies cannot afford to produce those devices that are produced only in a few numbers.” Liese recently published a comprehensive proposal for the revision that intends not to weaken the protection and the safety but the red tape.

  1. No separate full Committee on Health - ENVI Committee of the European Parliament stays with its current responsibilities
  2. Christian Democrats want to develop the Green Deal into a Green Growth Deal
  3. The EPP remains committed to the core of the Green Deal and in particular to the climate targets
  4. Commission must postpone deforestation regulation and then fundamentally revise it