Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority

Last updated
Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority
Agency overview
Formed16 September 2021 (2021-09-16)
Jurisdiction European Union
Key document

The Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) is a directorate-general [1] of the European Commission created to prepare the EU for a future pandemic and to avoid the mistakes made during the EU's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. [2] [3] [4] European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen first announced plans for such a body in 2020. [2] On 15 September 2021, the EU announced the launch of HERA [3] and the service was established as a directorate-general of the European Commission on 16 September. [5] HERA has been operational since early 2022. [2] [4]

Contents

HERA will assess potential health threats, promote research, ensure the availability of critical production and help build stockpiles. During a health crisis, the authority would activate emergency funding and help coordinate monitoring, acquisition and purchase of medical equipment or treatments. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Council of the European Union</span> Institution of the European Union

The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and informally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven Institutions of the European Union (EU) as listed in the Treaty on European Union. It is one of two legislative bodies and together with the European Parliament serves to amend and approve or veto the proposals of the European Commission, which holds the right of initiative.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Commission</span> Executive branch of the European Union

The European Commission (EC) is part of the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission headed by a President. It includes an administrative body of about 32,000 European civil servants. The commission is divided into departments known as Directorates-General (DGs) that can be likened to departments or ministries each headed by a Director-General who is responsible to a Commissioner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agencies of the European Union</span> Distinct body of the European Union

The agencies of the European Union are bodies of the European Union and the Euratom established as juridical persons through secondary EU legislation and tasked with a specific narrow field of work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations</span> European Commissions department for overseas humanitarian aid and for civil protection

The Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, formerly known as the European Community Humanitarian Aid Office, is the European Commission's department for overseas humanitarian aid and for civil protection. It aims to save and preserve life, prevent and alleviate human suffering and safeguard the integrity and dignity of populations affected by natural disasters and man-made crises. Since September 2019, Janez Lenarčič is serving as Commissioner for Crisis Management in the Von der Leyen Commission, and since 1 March 2023, Maciej Popowski leads the organisation as the Director-General.

The European Union (EU) proposal for a directive on criminal measures aimed at ensuring the enforcement of intellectual property rights (2005/0127/COD) was a proposal from the European Commission for a directive aimed "to supplement Directive 2004/48/EC of 29 April 2004 on the enforcement of intellectual property rights ". The directive was proposed on July 12, 2005 by the Commission of the European Communities.

The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) is an independent body of the European Union with juridical personality, established in 2008 intended to strengthen Europe's ability to innovate. The EIT’s three “core pillars” of activities are: entrepreneurial education programmes and courses across Europe that transform students into entrepreneurs; business creation and acceleration services that scale ideas and budding businesses; and innovation-driven research projects that turn ideas into products by connecting partners, investors, and expertise.

<i>European Pharmacopoeia</i> Major multinational pharmacopoeia published by the European Union

The European Pharmacopoeia is a major regional pharmacopoeia which provides common quality standards throughout the pharmaceutical industry in Europe to control the quality of medicines, and the substances used to manufacture them. It is a published collection of monographs which describe both the individual and general quality standards for ingredients, dosage forms, and methods of analysis for medicines. These standards apply to medicines for both human and veterinary use.

The Health Threat Unit of the Directorate-General for Health and Consumer Protection, is responsible for terrorism surveillance and early warning of biological, chemical, and radiological threats within the European Union. The Health Threat Unit runs the Rapid Alert System, which conducts surveillance on communicable diseases and diseases caused by acts of bioterrorism. The surveillance data are coordinated and evaluated by the Health Emergency Operations Facility. Health threat information and warnings are sent to the member states by the Communication and Crisis Center (BICHAT) and the Security Office in Brussels, Belgium.

The Global Health Security Initiative (GHSI) is an informal international partnership among countries in order to exchange information and coordinate practices for confronting new threats and risks to global health. It was formed to respond to threats of biological, chemical, or radio-nuclear terrorism (CBRN), with pandemic influenza added to the scope a year later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Energy policy of the European Union</span> Legislation in the area of energetics in the European Union

The energy policy of the European Union focuses on energy security, sustainability, and integrating the energy markets of member states. An increasingly important part of it is climate policy. A key energy policy adopted in 2009 is the 20/20/20 objectives, binding for all EU Member States. The target involved increasing the share of renewable energy in its final energy use to 20%, reduce greenhouse gases by 20% and increase energy efficiency by 20%. After this target was met, new targets for 2030 were set at a 55% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 as part of the European Green Deal. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the EU's energy policy turned more towards energy security in their REPowerEU policy package, which boosts both renewable deployment and fossil fuel infrastructure for alternative suppliers.

The Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES), is a web-based veterinarian certification tool used by the European Union for controlling the import and export of live animals and animal products within and without its borders. Its network falls under the responsibility of the European Commission. TRACES constitutes a key element of how the European Union facilitates trade and improves health protection for the consumer, as laid down in the First Pillar principle. Other countries use computer networks to provide veterinary certification, but TRACES is the only supranational network working at a continental scale of 28 countries and almost 500 million people.

The Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety, until 2014 known as the Directorate-General for Health and Consumers, is a directorate-general of the European Commission. The DG is responsible for the monitoring and implementation of European Union policies and laws on health and food safety. It is headed by European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides and Director-General Sandra Gallina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Citizens' Initiative</span> European Union mechanism aimed at increasing direct democracy

The European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) is a European Union (EU) mechanism aimed at increasing direct democracy by enabling "EU citizens to participate directly in the development of EU policies", introduced with the Treaty of Lisbon in 2007. This popular initiative enables one million citizens of the European Union, with a minimum number of nationals from at least seven member states, to call directly on the European Commission to propose a legal act in an area where the member states have conferred powers onto the EU level. This right to request the commission to initiate a legislative proposal puts citizens on the same footing as the European Parliament and the European Council, who enjoy this right according to Articles 225 and 241 TFEU, respectively. The commission holds the right of initiative in the EU. The first registered ECI, Fraternité 2020, was initiated on 9 May 2012, although the first submitted ECI was One Single Tariff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund</span>

The European Commission's Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund is a funding programme managed by the Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs which promotes the efficient management of migration flows and the implementation, strengthening and development of a common approach to asylum and immigration in the European Union. All EU Member States except Denmark participate in the implementation of this Fund. Most of the funds are provided to the EU Member States for activities addressing previously agreed upon themes. A part of the funding is reserved for emergency assistance. A final part is reserved for Union Actions, which are European Commission managed projects that are developed as either calls for proposals, direct awards, procurements, or delegation agreements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Union response to the COVID-19 pandemic</span> Responses to the ongoing COVID-19 viral pandemic in the European Union

The COVID-19 pandemic and its spread in Europe has had significant effects on some major EU members countries and on European Union institutions, especially in the areas of finance, civil liberties, and relations between member states.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Data Governance Act</span>

The Data Governance Act (DGA) is a regulation by the European Union that aims to create a framework which will facilitate data-sharing. The proposal was first announced within the 2020 European strategy for data and was officially presented by Margrethe Vestager in 25 November 2020. The DGA covers the data of public bodies, private companies, and citizens. Its main aims are to safely enable the sharing of sensitive data held by public bodies, to regulate data sharing by private actors. On 30 November 2021, the EU Parliament and Council reached an agreement on the wording of the DGA. The formal approval by those bodies was competed by the 30.05.2022.

Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) is a regulation in EU law. It is intended to help streamline distributed ledger technology (DLT) and virtual asset regulation in the European Union (EU) whilst protecting users and investors. MiCA was approved on 20 April 2023 by the EU Parliament and will become law in 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Artificial Intelligence Act</span> European Union regulation on artificial intelligence

The Artificial Intelligence Act is a proposed European Union regulation on artificial intelligence in the European Union. Proposed by the European Commission on 21 April 2021 and not yet enacted, it would introduce a common regulatory and legal framework for artificial intelligence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Chips Act</span> European legislative proposal

The European Chips Act (ECA), also known as simply the Chips Act, is a legislative package to encourage semiconductor production in the European Union.

References

  1. European Commission. "Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authorityponse-authority_en". ec.europa.eu.
  2. 1 2 3 Casert, Raf (2021-09-16). "EU earmarks 30 billion euros for health crisis agency". The Seattle Times . Associated Press . Retrieved 2021-09-17.
  3. 1 2 Peltier, Elian; Pronczuk, Monika (2021-09-15). "The E.U. adopts a new strategy to counter future pandemics". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2021-09-17.
  4. 1 2 3 "EU launches health crisis body to prepare for future pandemic". Reuters . 2021-09-17. Retrieved 2021-09-17.
  5. "EUR-Lex - 32021D0929(02) - EN - EUR-Lex". eur-lex.europa.eu. Retrieved 2021-12-30.