The EU and its Member States thanks the Bureau and the Secretariat for the significant work achieved with the presentation of the Working draft to the INB. We consider this to be a very significant step forward and a good basis for our discussion during this second meeting of the INB.

As we meet today, we cannot ignore that we are still in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are yet again witnessing a global increase of new cases.  We must cope with continued pressure on our health systems and face the tragedy of more than 6.3 million dead.

Last year, in the Special Session of the World Health Assembly, we committed to prevent, be better prepared for, and better respond to the next pandemic threat. At the beginning of the second meeting of the INB, we wish to stress our commitment to the process of establishing an international agreement on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response that can deliver effective and equitable results on the ground. Since the end of 2020, the EU has been advocating for a strong and ambitious universal agreement, that is balanced, inclusive and that takes account of the concerns and needs of countries across the globe. We are convinced that such an instrument, by complementing - and not overlapping with the IHR, would be crucial for strengthening prevention, preparedness and response to future pandemic threats, an objective that we all share. This agreement holds the promise to saving lives, protecting livelihoods and leaving no one behind. We need to collectively ensure that it will be of benefit to all people and countries, including vulnerable populations. A genuine effort and partnership to find multilateral solutions to common problems, in accordance with the values, common to the EU and its Member States, of solidarity, cooperation and respect for human rights.

With this in mind, we believe that WHO CAII should aim at laying out substantive provisions and commitments in key areas of pandemic prevention, preparedness and response that are not addressed through existing instruments, while also charting the course for future negotiations, including by means of supplementary protocols. Legally binding provisions may be complemented by non-binding provisions (such as guidelines, standards and declarations). We are convinced that we need to  continue our work with a view to adopting a legally binding instrument under article 19 of the WHO Constitution, very much in the spirit of the special session decision. We will work to ensure that an approach shared by all WHO members is found.

In terms of content, we welcome the focus on equity as a principle that should permeate the design of the entire instrument and its implementation. In general, we believe that there is still an effort to be made to avoid duplication and overlapping provisions in particular in Part III and IV of the working draft. We also consider essential to ensure complementarity and coherence of the WHO CAII with the existing instruments and mechanisms, in particular the IHR, as well as respect mandates of other UN agencies and international organisations. In the working draft, we would like to strengthen references to prevention, including better collaborative surveillance and early detection, prevention of the emergence of zoonotic diseases, particularly in animals and antimicrobial resistance. Antimicrobial resistance is already posing a significant threat to our societies and economies and we believe that it is essential to use the opportunity we have with this new instrument to ensure that we are better prepared at global level to face this challenge. In order to address these issues, the One Health approach is central. As a horizontal integrated approach, One Health needs to inform all other sections of the WHO CAII.

We would like to stress the importance we attach to providing robust technical assistance and capacity building support to low and lower-middle income countries to ensure an effective and equitable implementation of the agreement.

Finally, we are meeting at a time when Russia’s brutal, unprovoked, unjustifiable and illegal war of aggression against Ukraine will soon be going on for five months. This war, which is a flagrant violation of international law and the UN Charter, poses yet another serious threat to Global Health and reminds us every day that we need a clear and united international response

We will give further remarks and suggestions, including on the structure of the working draft and other specific issues at the appropriate time.