Πληρη πρακτικα των συζητησεων

Δευτέρα 22 Νοεμβρίου 2021 - Στρασβούργο

17. Συντονισμός των μέτρων των κρατών μελών υπό το φως των αυξανόμενων κρουσμάτων COVID-19 στην ΕΕ (συζήτηση)

  Presidente. – O ponto seguinte da ordem do dia é a Declaração da Comissão sobre a coordenação das medidas dos Estados-Membros à luz do número crescente de casos de COVID 19 na UE [2021/2984(RSP)].

Gostaria de recordar aos Senhores Deputados que, em todos os debates deste período de sessões, não haverá procedimentos «catch the eye» nem perguntas «cartão azul».

Além disso, tal como nos recentes períodos de sessões, estão previstas intervenções à distância a partir dos Gabinetes de Ligação do Parlamento Europeu nos Estados-Membros.

Gostaria ainda de recordar que as intervenções no Hemiciclo continuarão a ser feitas a partir da tribuna central, exceto no que se refere aos pedidos espontâneos de uso da palavra, aos cartões azuis e aos pontos de ordem.

Por conseguinte, convido os Senhores Deputados a acompanharem a lista de oradores e a aproximarem se da tribuna quando o seu tempo de uso da palavra estiver iminente.

  Stella Kyriakides, Member of the Commission. – Mr President, I would like to start first of all by sharing with you that what we are seeing over the last few weeks is a worryingly rapid increase of the number of COVID-19 cases across Europe. We all know, and we all can see, that Europe is now in the middle of yet another wave, and this is clearly of very serious concern to us all. I want to take this opportunity to thank this House for this timely discussion. But I would like to start by sending a very clear message on the role of vaccines, because the evidence is clear.

Vaccination works and remains the most effective tool we have to keep people safe. There is no doubt that they are effective against severe disease and hospitalisation, and protect against loss of life. Even with the dominant Delta variant, with its increased transmissibility and severity, deaths continue to be prevented due to the effective vaccines authorised for use in the EU, and this is all backed by scientific evidence. Numerous people across the EU, young and old, would have been in a much worse-off situation had it not been for the record roll-out of vaccination programmes against COVID-19. But now we are facing a pandemic mainly driven by the unvaccinated. The rising numbers are, unfortunately, fuelling vaccine hesitancy, and we all need to take a firm stand against this.

All of you, the honourable Members of this Parliament, can play a crucial role in this effort. Vaccination continues to be the key weapon in our armoury, but at the same time, until sufficient vaccination high rates have been reached and the situation is under control, it is important that non-pharmaceutical interventions remain in place where needed. We have already reached out to all those countries most severely affected, which are also the lowest with the vaccine uptake. We’re offering direct support, together with ECDC, to help them combat misinformation and boost vaccine uptake. We welcome your help and collaboration in all those countries.

We’re also providing urgent support through the Union Civil Protection Mechanism for those most under pressure. Many Member States have started to reintroduce certain restrictive measures, relying often on the EU Digital COVID Certificate, to allow safe access to public areas. The use of the certificate is, I would dare to say, a success story, not only because it has allowed us to travel and interact again, to reopen the European Union and to restart our economies, but more than that, the EU Digital COVID Certificate has been the meeting point at which Member States and the Commission have collaborated and delivered the largest interoperable digital COVID certificate system in the world.

We need to avoid fragmentation, and for this, strong coordination is key. That is why we are currently preparing an update of the Council recommendations related to free movement within the EU. The proposal to be adopted this week will promote and acknowledge the important role of the EU Digital COVID Certificate that travellers nowadays carry, and we will also update the recommendation on travel into the EU from around the world.

Honourable Members, close collaboration and coordination are absolutely essential – and these are not just words. We know this, at every step of this journey. We have been making our utmost efforts since the beginning of this pandemic. We cannot impose coordination in an area where the competence lies with Member States. In the area of health, it takes not only two to be able to coordinate together, but 27.

In the context of the European Health Union, we have proposed a stronger health security committee, a body which has played a crucial role in the pandemic – but we need to strengthen it. We need rapid agreement on the proposals towards the European Health Union, and I am very glad that the negotiations on a new regulation on cross-border health threats started last week. We have expectations which are high for this regulation, so let’s ensure our ambition remains intact throughout the negotiations, because together we can ensure that the EU is better prepared for the future, and setting up HERA has this in mind. HERA now manages all joint procurements on therapeutics and is working with companies and countries participating already in the Joint Procurement Agreement to ensure access to promising therapeutics.

Let me finish by stressing an important point. I would have wished that we were standing here today and I was addressing you and not speaking again about the difficult situation that most Member States find themselves in. But we are in this situation and we need to deal with it, and we need to be proactive to coordinating and supporting a Member State’s response in every single area, from emergency relief to free movement. We need a strong centre of disease prevention and control, a strong HERA, a strong EMA. But we need this within a strong European Health Union, and this is the only way, by reaching political agreement on our proposals, that we will be able to move forward as soon as possible. This is the only way that we are going to be able to build a Union that is better prepared, more resilient and more responsive in the face of future crises.

  Esther de Lange, on behalf of the PPE Group. – Mr President, it looks like the more numbers go up in Member States, the more they go in different directions when it comes to the measures that they take. And let’s be honest, the COVID Pass that went through this Parliament in rapid speed was a success story. It allowed us at the time to use our freedom of movement whenever it was medically possible.

But we’ve reached the stage now where we indeed need more guidance – not only when it comes to travel within the EU and travel to the EU from outside, but I would also like to say about the validity and the length of use of vaccinations and the use of booster vaccines. I would like the Commission maybe to react to that because it seems that this is where we mostly need guidance at the moment.

But let’s be honest, the reason we’re in this situation is because we have too many unvaccinated. You will all get, in your email boxes, emails about Black Friday – and this is an American commercial event enticing us to buy more stuff online. It’s this Friday.

But what the healthcare systems in our Member States are dealing with at the moment is a potential Code Black and to show you what Code Black is, let me just mention one of the emails that I got from a nurse somewhere in Europe. She said ‘I now have double the amount of COVID patients in my hospital than I should officially have and I cannot outplace them anywhere because all the other hospitals are full’.

When we get to Code Black in our health systems, it means that doctors and nurses have to choose between patient A or patient B when it comes to giving them a place in intensive care. And this is what we need to avoid.

A year ago, in this House, we were having a debate about whether we would have enough vaccines. Now we have them. Let’s use them and let’s share them, so that yes we can have a Black Friday if you wish, but we avoid a Code Black in our health systems.

  Heléne Fritzon, för S&D-gruppen. – Herr talman! Samordning kring EU-åtgärder för att hantera covid-19-utbrottet stod på dagordningen redan i mars 2020, när Europeiska rådet träffades. Nu står det ”Samordning av åtgärder mot bakgrund av det stigande antalet covid-fall i EU”. Ja, det står på dagordningen i dag, 20 månader senare, men diskussionen är lika viktig nu som då. Nu stiger antalet fall runtom i Europa, men det finns en stor skillnad i diskussionen från mars 2020 och till de diskussioner vi har nu, för under 20 månader har institutionerna och medlemsstaterna ökat sin kunskap och i EU har vi ett gemensamt vaccin på plats.

Vi måste nu visa att vi tar ansvar, och det är kritiskt att vi drar nytta av de lärdomar vi har gjort. Vårt fokus ska fortsätta att vara att dämpa smittspridningen. Vi ska skydda liv, hälsa och jobb. Vaccineringen är självklart en viktig del i detta. Varje individ måste ta sitt ansvar och varje medlemsstat måste göra sitt. EU måste ta vara på de lärdomar vi har fått om hur viktigt det är med samordning och samarbete. Det är kritiskt. Vi kan bara lösa detta tillsammans och nu måste vi fortsätta att agera.

  Véronique Trillet-Lenoir, au nom du groupe Renew. – Monsieur le Président, Madame la Commissaire, chère Stella, notre groupe politique Renew Europe s’inquiète de l’évolution de la crise de la COVID en Europe. Nous travaillons avec vous sur le règlement sur les menaces transfrontalières graves, mais l’urgence, c’est aujourd’hui et maintenant.

Le nombre de contaminations et le nombre de patients dans les hôpitaux sont préoccupants, mais préoccupante aussi est l’hétérogénéité des réactions des États membres. Nous voici à la fois armés contre le virus, grâce à la vaccination, et de nouveaux désordonnés dans les choix politiques sur les mesures d’éloignement social, sur le caractère obligatoire ou non du pass vaccinal ou du vaccin. Voici de nouveau la liberté de circulation au sein de Schengen remise en cause.

Comment comptez-vous mettre en marche rapidement la coordination nécessaire? J’ai bien entendu vos efforts. Quand et comment évoquez-vous ces sujets dans les réunions des ministres? Et que propose votre conseil scientifique? Nous avons fait un bond en avant spectaculaire avec la vaccination. La science a démontré sa capacité à trouver des solutions. Mais, là encore, nous devrons apprendre ensemble à restaurer la confiance des populations et à les prémunir contre la désinformation qui conduit à l’hésitation vaccinale.

Enfin, vous avez mis en place l’outil efficace que sont les achats groupés. Nous discutons régulièrement ensemble de l’intérêt de les étendre aux autres produits de santé. Envisagez-vous de les activer rapidement pour les traitements curatifs et préventifs qui sont progressivement autorisés par l’EMA?

  Tilly Metz, au nom du groupe Verts/ALE. – Monsieur le Président, mes chers collègues, devant cette recrudescence des cas de contamination à la COVID-19, il est primordial que nous mettions tous nos efforts en commun pour une meilleure coordination au sein des États membres de l’Union européenne. Il est important que nous instaurions des mesures communes et bien réfléchies.

Comme l’a souligné le Conseil européen des 21 et 22 octobre dernier, les campagnes de vaccination menées à travers l’Europe ont permis de réaliser des progrès notables. Mais nous devons intensifier les efforts pour vaincre la méfiance à l’égard des vaccins, y compris en luttant contre la désinformation. Si la vaccination est un moyen efficace pour lutter contre la pandémie, elle ne doit pas être rendue obligatoire. Se faire vacciner doit se faire avec conviction.

Aussi, je suis scandalisée par les mesures coercitives de l’Autriche. En rendant obligatoire la vaccination à partir du mois de février prochain, l’État autrichien ne fait qu’accroître les tensions sociales qui sont déjà présentes sur son territoire et risquent de diviser la société. Quelque 35 000 manifestants à Vienne ce week-end l’ont démontré. Des émeutes ont également éclaté aux Pays-Bas et en Belgique, où les manifestants protestaient contre les restrictions sanitaires et le projet du gouvernement de restreindre l’accès des personnes non vaccinées à certains établissements.

La vaccination doit être un choix intelligent et réfléchi. Instaurer la confiance suppose une liberté individuelle et une absence de coercition. Ces mesures radicales ne font qu’augmenter la méfiance d’une partie de la population vis-à-vis des vaccins. Donc, soyons cohérents et clairs dans notre communication afin de persuader et non de forcer.

  André Rougé, au nom du groupe ID. – Monsieur le Président, Madame la Commissaire, chers collègues, Marine Le Pen, candidate à la présidence de la République française, a été la première à dénoncer la gestion calamiteuse de la pandémie de COVID, tant par l’Union européenne que par le président Macron et le gouvernement français.

Les confinements et l’auto-isolement généré par une communication anxiogène ont bloqué en France l’accès aux soins des personnes les plus vulnérables. Face à cette cinquième vague, selon l’OMS, 500 000 personnes pourraient mourir de COVID en Europe d’ici le mois de février. Cette reprise épidémique est due également à une baisse certaine de l’immunité vaccinale chez les sujets ayant reçu leur deuxième injection depuis plus de six mois.

La réponse à cette nouvelle vague n’est pas basée sur un renforcement des soins, mais sur des mesures coercitives et liberticides qui amènent le département français de Guadeloupe à la crise sans précédent que nous connaissons aujourd’hui. Au pays de Pasteur, nous n’avons toujours pas de médicament antiviral sous forme de comprimés, capable de bloquer la réplication du virus dès le contact infectieux.

Quand les gouvernements et l’Union européenne vont-ils anticiper et prendre toutes les mesures nécessaires pour vacciner rapidement et développer un médicament antiviral pour bloquer la réplication du virus?

  Robert Roos, namens de ECR-Fractie. – Voorzitter, met vaccinatie was ons immuniteit beloofd. Daardoor is er massaal gevaccineerd. Maar het virus is helaas niet overwonnen. En u, commissaris, zei net dat dat de schuld is van de niet-gevaccineerden, maar dat is ook desinformatie. Vaccins helpen. Dat is waar. Maar we weten inmiddels dat ook gevaccineerden besmettelijk zijn en na verloop van tijd in het ziekenhuis terecht kunnen komen, want de bescherming neemt na een paar maanden af.

De coronapas voor gevaccineerden heeft gefaald. Niks minder besmettingen, maar wel schijnveiligheid. Het enige waar de coronapas toe heeft geleid, is discriminatie, uitsluiting en een volledige tweedeling van onze maatschappij. Meer van hetzelfde is zinloos. Ik wil de Commissie en de lidstaten daarom ook oproepen om de tijdelijke coronapas niet te verlengen. Het virus is hier en zal blijven. We moeten ermee leven. De lidstaten moeten de gezondheidszorg opschalen en voor voorlichting en medicijnen zorgen. Iedereen kan nu gevaccineerd zijn. Zorg ook voor boosters voor de mensen die dat willen. Maar stop met het uitsluiten van burgers en voer zeker geen vaccinatieplicht in. Geef de mensen hun leven weer terug.

  Kateřina Konečná, za skupinu The Left. – Pane předsedající, vážená paní komisařko, rok se s rokem sešel a my jsme na tom skoro stejně. Na vině je nejenom nízká proočkovanost v některých členských státech, ale především neochota členských států více na boji s pandemií spolupracovat.

V podstatě jedinými dvěma úspěšnými projekty za téměř dva roky jsou společné nákupy vakcín a představení covid pasů. A to ještě, abych je mohla nazvat úspěšnými, musíme zavřít obě oči. A já se ptám: Jakou máme vizi do budoucna? I kdybychom v tuto chvíli – a já jsem pouze pro dobrovolné očkování, protože se prostě domnívám, že radikalizace a nucení lidí způsobí jediné, že se o to více přestanou chtít očkovat, o to více ti lidé budou bojovat za svá práva a svobody – proočkovali celou společnost, tak tuto vlnu pandemie nezastavíme.

Prosím vás, paní komisařko, abyste si s výběrovými řízeními na léčbu pospíšili, abyste nové léky na léčbu COVID-19 dali na evropský trh co nejdříve a uměli je nakoupit v potřebné výši. To je totiž to jediné, co nám v tuto chvíli může pomoct zachraňovat lidské životy.

  Sunčana Glavak (PPE). – Poštovani predsjedavajući, poštovana povjerenice, kolegice i kolege, posljednjih par tjedana diljem Europe bilježimo značajan porast broja novozaraženih slučajeva koronavirusom. U Hrvatskoj, zemlji iz koje dolazim, COVID potvrdu možete dobiti ako ste preboljeli, ako ste cijepljeni ili ste testirani.

U brojnim državama članicama ruše se crni rekordi, trendovi rasta nisu obećavajući. Vidimo da pucaju po šavovima bolnički sustavi i činjenica je da ljudi koji sve više umiru, njih preko 80 %, su ljudi koji nisu cijepljeni. Ne smijemo dovesti naše liječnike koji požrtvovno rade, kao i sve medicinske djelatnike, u dilemu da trebaju birati čiji će život spasiti jer svaki život jednako je vrijedan. Jednako tako, po Ustavu zemlje iz koje dolazim, svatko ima pravo na zdravstvenu skrb. Međutim, nitko nema pravo drugome oduzeti zdravstvenu skrb ili ugroziti njegov život.

Stoga vas molim još jednom, sve one koji zaziru od cijepljenja i koji sumnjaju u najveće dosege medicine, razmislite o ljudima koji umiru. U mojoj zemlji dnevno umire preko 60 ljudi.

  Simona Bonafè (S&D). – Signor Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, l'avevamo già capito un anno e mezzo fa, quando l'intera Europa si è fermata, che avevamo davanti un virus davvero insidioso. A distanza di due anni non siamo nella stessa situazione emergenziale di quando è iniziata la pandemia, ma l'aumento rapido dei contagi e dei ricoveri nei nostri paesi nelle ultime settimane preoccupa e va affrontato con efficacia e maggior coordinamento anche sul piano europeo.

Oggi, a differenza di due anni fa, abbiamo ampia disponibilità di dispositivi medici e soprattutto abbiamo i vaccini. La decisione della Commissione di centralizzare l'acquisto ha permesso a tutti gli Stati membri di avere il vaccino alle stesse condizioni. Ciononostante abbiamo davanti un'Europa a due velocità, con Stati che hanno raggiunto livelli di immunizzazione di circa il 90 % della popolazione adulta e altri con percentuali molto inferiori, e questo non va bene.

Numeri alla mano, il vaccino è lo strumento principale per evitare nuove morti e per evitare nuove chiusure che minerebbero la ripresa sociale ed economica. Le regioni oggi in situazioni maggiormente critiche sono quelle dove si è vaccinato meno e finché non avremo alti tassi di vaccinazione in tutta Europa non usciremo da questa pandemia.

Oggi abbiamo anche uno strumento europeo come il Covid Pass, per facilitare la libertà di circolazione in sicurezza fra Stati. La Commissione deve farsi garante di un'applicazione coordinata per la validità del Covid Pass negli spostamenti fra uno Stato membro e l'altro, in particolare per quel che riguarda la durata della vaccinazione e della terza dose.

Una cosa dovremmo averla imparata tutti: se ci muoviamo insieme, non perdendo mai di vista i dati e ascoltando la scienza, la nostra azione per mettere in sicurezza sanitaria i cittadini in Europa sarà sicuramente più efficace.

  Maximilian Krah (ID). – Herr Präsident, liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen! In Wien haben am Wochenende über 50 000 Menschen dafür demonstriert, dass der Ausnahmezustand wieder beendet wird. Das ist europaweit der Fall.

Wir brauchen keine Koordination von Maßnahmen, gegen die die Menschen zu Recht auf die Straßen gehen. Wir brauchen eine Koordination der Maßnahmen, damit dieses Land aus dem Notstand wieder herauskommt.

Wir haben eine Notstandssituation gehabt, als die Krankheit neu war. Wir wissen heute mehr darüber, und wir haben niedrigere Hospitalisierungsraten. Notstand ist per definitionem etwas, das zeitlich begrenzt ist. Wir können nicht ewig im Notstand verbleiben.

Und deshalb geht es hier nicht um mehr und noch bessere Koordinierung von freiheitseinschränkenden Maßnahmen, sondern es geht um einen kontrollierten, verantwortungsvollen, aber klaren Weg zurück dazu, dass Weihnachtsmärkte öffnen, Menschen reisen und einander wieder besuchen können.

  Liudas Mažylis (PPE). – Gerbiamas Pirmininke, gerbiama Komisijos nare, gerbiami kolegos, iš šios tribūnos pasakyta daug teisingų žodžių apie būtinybę prieš COVID-19 pandemiją veikti sutelktai. Pirma, sprendimus grindžiant mokslu, antra, ne tik veikiant valstybių lygmeniu, o vis daugiau sprendimų deleguoti europinėms institucijoms. Bet vėl tenka reaguoti ad hoc.

Kad galėtume užkirsti kelią viruso mutacijoms ir naujų atmainų plitimui, buvo ir yra būtina gilintis į viruso mutacijas. Tam buvo svarbu vykdyti sekoskaitos tyrimus, o valstybės turėjo ir tebeturi nevienodas galimybes.

Kalbėta apie Europos ligų kontrolės ir prevencijos centro vaidmens išplėtimą. Tas centras turėtų rūpintis situacijų modeliavimu, statistikos suvienodinimu, pasitelkiant moderniąsias technologijas, įskaitant ir dirbtinį intelektą.

Pagaliau, viešojoje erdvėje turi būti skleidžiama įtikinama, mokslu grįsta, aiškia, visiems suprantama forma informacija apie minėtas mutacijas, skiepijimosi privalumus ir jo naudą. Tenka konstatuoti, kad tie iššūkiai, kai dabar patiriame penktąją viruso plitimo bangą, jie vis dar mums tebeišlieka.

  Stella Kyriakides, Member of the Commission. – Mr President, I thank you again for this discussion.

Now, first of all, I would like to assure you that we are listening. We are listening to all the concerns. We’re listening to all the insights. We’re listening to your suggestions and we are listening to the perspectives.

I am fully aware of the urgency and I am also fully aware of where we could be – as some of you have already said – if there is a lack of coordination, if we have fragmentation in the present state of this pandemic.

Now, let me address some crucial points. First of all, we need to look at what we have now, because I have heard some of the issues to do with questioning the vaccines, if they’re working, if they’re making a positive impact. Vaccinations are saving thousands of lives. There’s no doubt that they’re effective against severe disease – including hospitalisations and deaths, and this protection remains very high. There is some evidence of decreasing protection in older individuals and those with other diseases but vaccines are achieving what they were supposed to do. They’re protecting people from getting severely ill and from losing their lives. And according to the ECDC (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control), the current increase in COVID-19 cases, even in countries that have successfully reached a high vaccination rate, is largely but not exclusively, driven by those who are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated. And this is both in the EU as well as globally. So the message needs to be clear: let’s get vaccinated. Wearing masks and maintaining physical distances are important to protect each other. But vaccination is what is saving thousands of lives, and we need to continue to work towards this.

Vaccination is necessary, but indeed, as has been said, not enough. And I have heard a plea for us to do something to do with right therapeutics. So let me just share with you. We know that we need to work, and we have known this for several months, in parallel with therapeutics. People will continue to fall sick and need to be treated in hospitals and at home. And this is why, in parallel, we are ensuring the availability of COVID-19 therapeutics. We have an ambitious strategy. I have presented this to you before from this plenary, with a portfolio now of 10 most promising candidates for therapeutics. And on 12 November, not long ago, we authorised two new therapeutics: Ronapreve by Roche and Regeneron, and Regkirona by Celltrion. The European Medicines Agency is currently evaluating two medicines under rolling review – Evusheld from AstraZeneca and Molnupiravir from Merck, and authorisation applications were submitted for four medicines in addition to those. And last Friday, the European Medicines Agency gave advice to Member States that they can use and make Molnupiravir or Lagevrio – difficult words – available for emergency use.

We are also supporting Member States in having access to therapeutics. We have already concluded two joint procurement contracts, and negotiations are ongoing for other products. And we are organising, by the end of November, the next pan-European matchmaking event so that, once authorised, therapeutics are produced in sufficient quantity as soon as possible so that all European citizens can have access to them wherever they live within the European Union. So, we have never taken our eye off the issue of therapeutics and this through the EU therapeutic strategy is producing results.

Now, I listened very carefully to what Esther de Lange said and what Véronique Trillet-Lenoir said, and I fully agree with the urgency. And this is why the European Commission is working with the utmost urgency to strengthen the coordination of free movement, including the length of validity and the role of boosters in the vaccination campaign. Discussions are ongoing with Member States within the Health Security Committee and the ICPR (Integrated Political Crisis Response), and at every Council meeting – we have the next Council meeting on 7 December.

But I just wanted to tell you that this week we will be coming up with proposals, specific proposals on safer and free movement, including the certificate, and there will be, this week, a new risk assessment from the ECDC. So, we are determined to reverse the current wave. We’re working closely with Member States, as we are with you. We are very aware of the urgency needed and we are also aware that we need to give clear, coherent messages to citizens. This is the only way. Everybody has been under tremendous pressure for 22 months and we need to follow the science and come forward with clear and coherent messages so that they’re able to all work together. Ultimately, this is about all of us working together in order to be able to come to the end of this pandemic.

And finally – and I will never stop reiterating this – I count on you for a rapid political agreement on the proposals for the European Health Union because we need to be able to be ready for now and for the future. And we could only do this with a strong European Health Union for the benefit of the entire European Union.

PRESIDENZA DELL'ON. FABIO MASSIMO CASTALDO
Vicepresidente

  Presidente. – Grazie mille alla Commissaria Kyriakides.

La discussione è chiusa.

Dichiarazioni scritte (articolo 171)

  Estrella Durá Ferrandis (S&D), por escrito. – En las últimas semanas se ha registrado un aumento significativo del número de casos de infecciones por COVID-19 en todos los Estados miembros; lo que ha llevado a la introducción de diferentes medidas por los Estados miembros.

A los socialistas nos preocupa que estemos entrando en una nueva fase de medidas descoordinadas, que generan confusión para todos los ciudadanos, y en particular para los que viajan, a pesar de las disposiciones del Reglamento por el que se crea el Certificado COVID Digital de la UE, que fue concebido para facilitar los viajes y frenar estas dificultades.

Por ello, los socialdemócratas en el Parlamento Europeo apoyamos las medidas de salud pública destinadas a limitar la propagación del virus, pero pedimos que los Estados miembros coordinen sus acciones y respeten las disposiciones del Código de Fronteras Schengen. El próximo paquete Schengen de la Comisión, previsto para diciembre, debe contribuir a aclarar las normas que se aplican en estas circunstancias en el espacio Schengen.

Los socialistas somos coherentes al pedir una coordinación adecuada de las medidas de los Estados miembros, la actualización de las recomendaciones para la libertad de circulación y la reforma a largo plazo del Código de Fronteras Schengen.

  César Luena (S&D), por escrito. – En las últimas semanas se ha registrado un aumento significativo del número de casos de infecciones por COVID-19 en todos los Estados miembros; lo que ha llevado a la introducción de diferentes medidas por los Estados miembros.

A los socialistas nos preocupa que estemos entrando en una nueva fase de medidas descoordinadas, que generan confusión para todos los ciudadanos, y en particular para los que viajan, a pesar de las disposiciones del Reglamento por el que se crea el Certificado COVID Digital de la UE, que fue concebido para facilitar los viajes y frenar estas dificultades.

Por ello, los socialdemócratas en el Parlamento Europeo apoyamos las medidas de salud pública destinadas a limitar la propagación del virus, pero pedimos que los Estados miembros coordinen sus acciones y respeten las disposiciones del Código de Fronteras Schengen. El próximo paquete Schengen de la Comisión, previsto para diciembre, debe contribuir a aclarar las normas que se aplican en estas circunstancias en el espacio Schengen.

Los socialistas somos coherentes al pedir una coordinación adecuada de las medidas de los Estados miembros, la actualización de las recomendaciones para la libertad de circulación y la reforma a largo plazo del Código de Fronteras Schengen.

  Alfred Sant (S&D), in writing. – 22 months since it started, COVID-19 is today again the leading cause of death in the EU. In the light of the rising number of cases, European countries are reintroducing restrictions. Today, the call for further precautionary measures is fully justified. Vaccines have not replaced the need for other precautions. Even countries where the vaccination rate is very high, like in my country Malta, will probably need a further tightening of the sanitary rules in the coming weeks. It will be possible to avoid new lockdowns but only if a combination of conditions is met, notably: faster vaccination, compulsory use of masks indoors and the widest possible application of telework. Meanwhile, at EU level, coordination of national measures remains essential to ensure that free movement within the EU is maintained. This will be done by adjusting the validity of the EU digital certificate to preserve its efficiency. The European Commission is rightly aiming to harmonise the validity of the COVID-19 vaccination certificate to include booster shots. These and similar measures have proven effective in past months. Their reinforcement will be essential in the near future. Understandably, there is a widespread ‘pandemic fatigue’. Still, it is not time yet to treat COVID like another strain of flu.