Renew Europe insists that Parliament should have a say on HERA

Renew Europe deplores that the European Parliament has been sidelined by the Commission on the creation of the EU’s new Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA).

The creation of HERA has been a long-time priority for Renew Europe. From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Renew Europe has been in the forefront for the creation of such a coordinating entity that must be fit to provide coherent answers and to take bold actions in preventing and managing new and still unknown cross- border health emergencies in the future.

Renew Europe has always pointed out the urgency of the creation of HERA. But urgency does not mean silencing democracy. Renew Europe regrets the move from the Commission which is simply unacceptable and needs to be addressed.

Nils Torvalds, Renew Europe's coordinator in the Environment committee and member of the Budget committee says:

“Today I am very disappointed. The European Commission has no reason to exclude the European Parliament, and I believe it is a worrying move. Article 122 of TFEU is an article to use for emergencies, not for setting up new structures in the EU. The European Parliament is the only directly elected institution, we represent the people, and we should have a say and scrutiny over how millions of euros are being spent, especially on something as crucial as health.”

Véronique Trillet–Lenoir, Rapporteur on the cross- border health threats regulation underlines that :

“We must build the European Union of Health together. Every national or European institution has a part to play in the strengthening of our health policy. In times of crisis, the Commission, the Council, and the Parliament have demonstrated how fast and effective they were able to be to react and adopt strong measures to fight the pandemic and its consequences. Let us show that together we can create a robust, agile and independent HERA. An authority capable of orchestrating the virtuous cycle of medical innovations”.

ENDS