Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-05-04-Speech-1-073"
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"en.20090504.15.1-073"2
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"Mr President, I thank Members for their contributions. It is very important for me to hear your views on this very important matter.
First of all, let me assure you that all the structures we have established in order to meet any health threat of this size have been working well and that we have utilised all the tools at our disposal.
As I said in my introductory statement, since 25 April 2009 we have been in close contact on a daily basis with all the Member States, and we have been assured that the directives we have given them have been put in place and are working. However, in view of the experience of the present crisis we are continuously updating our structures and tools, which makes sense because it is only in a real time of crisis that we can see the deficiencies of any structure.
Many speakers mentioned antivirals and the sufficiency of stocks. Unfortunately, as you know, my predecessor discussed this problem of stockpiling on an EU basis with the health ministers but unfortunately those ministers did not want Europe to take over this coordination. We discussed the same problem last year in Angers during the French Presidency and, again, the health ministers insisted that each Member State should be free to decide for itself how many stocks it wanted. We know that there are many differences between the stocks from one state to another, and we are concerned about that.
However, in view of the conclusions reached by the health ministers on 30 April 2009, we decided that the Commission would work closely with the Member States and that if a Member State needs assistance then, in the spirit of solidarity, we shall call for assistance and try to coordinate the needs of the Member States.
As far as the new vaccine is concerned, as I said, I had a meeting with industry and we discussed at length the need both for antivirals and for the new vaccine. We hope that on 11 May 2009 we shall have the seed stocks to give to the industry in order for it to begin production of the new vaccine. I cannot say when it will be ready, as it will depend on the efficacy of the stock, but we estimate that it will take between 8 and 12 weeks.
In response to Ms Grossetête’s question, I agree completely with her that we have to remain vigilant in order to meet the needs that may arise, certainly after the summer, and with the creation of the new vaccine I hope that we shall be able to meet the needs of our people.
However, I want to reiterate the fact that the situation is serious but we should not panic. I agree with Mr Adamou that everybody should be as reasonable and realistic as possible in this situation – panicking does not help anybody."@en1
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