Source · Select Committees · Foreign Affairs Committee
Recommendation 7
7
We are concerned that the UK’s reduced access to European health networks could undermine the...
Recommendation
We are concerned that the UK’s reduced access to European health networks could undermine the UK and European response to future disease outbreaks. We recommend that the Government builds structured permanent cooperation with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). In its response to this report, the FCDO should set out its assessment of how its new ad hoc access to the Early Warning Response System affects global health security; whether and on what terms it sought to retain membership of the ECDC during EU exit negotiations; and when the current access in the context of the pandemic will lapse. (Paragraph 19) Covid-19 vaccines
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
The UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) clearly sets out our commitment to continue working with the EU in tackling the current pandemic and any future threats. Specifically, in relation to the current pandemic, the UK has been granted access to the EU Early Warning and Response System (EWRS) for COVID-19 and our current access enables the sharing of information and intelligence on the pandemic between the UK, the European Commission and EU Member States. In addition, the UK continues to attend meetings of the EU’s Health Security Committee (HSC) for the purposes of the COVID-19 response. These current arrangements will remain in place for as long as both the UK and the EU determine necessary to support coordination on COVID-19. In addition, the TCA includes a legal provision which acts on both the UK and the EU to inform each other of a serious cross-border threat to health affecting the other in a timely manner. This supports effective information sharing between the UK and the EU on new and emerging threats, including those which may not reach the criteria for WHO notification. Since 31 January, we have notified and shared intelligence with the EU on a number of UK outbreaks that could present a risk to the EU through shared supply chains and vehicles of infection. In line with the commitments set out in the TCA, the UK has maintained an ongoing relationship with ECDC to work on health security, including in relation to COVID-19. To ensure the UK continues to deliver on these commitments in the future, UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is in the final stages of agreeing a Memorandum of Understanding with ECDC to formalise effective collaboration on matters of mutual interest in communicable diseases prevention and control.