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Town Hall with Dr Peter Liese, MEP

22 Jun 2020
All Committees
Healthcare
Trade & External Affairs
EU-UK
Transatlantic

For the eleventh edition of its ‘Town Hall’ for members, AmCham EU connected with Dr Peter Liese, MEP, EPP Coordinator in the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety. 

His key points were:

  • The COVID-19 outbreak showed the importance of strategic sovereignty of EU’s supply chains.
  • We need strong and trusting relationships with our trade partners – both the US and the UK post-Brexit should play an important role in EU’s healthcare strategy.
  • The EU’s input into the fight against cancer should focus on its added value: stimulating research into rare or pediatric cancers, regulating cross-border health, encouraging research into cancer prevention.
  • The EU’s public health policy should be complimentary to that of its Member States and it should not duplicate their efforts.
  • On COVID-19 specifically, Europe could take an example from the US and invest into public-private partnerships to make sure that once a vaccine is available, it can be produced on a wide scale.
  • The EU should make sure it remains a welcoming environment for the pharmaceutical industry, with more cooperation needed between policy-makers and the private sector. Rerouting production of pharmaceuticals to Europe is crucial aspect of the EU’s recovery plan.