On 12 October the EU’s health ministers met in Luxembourg for an extra Council meeting to discuss the new influenza. Chairing the meeting was Swedish Minister for Elderly Care and Public Health Maria Larsson.

The extra Council meeting on the new influenza opened with the ministers adopting conclusions on the influenza. The conclusions focused on the following issues: 

• Availability of vaccines: The Council calls on the Commission to continue to support procurement processes for the countries that do not have a current agreement with a manufacturer. The Commission is also given the task of proposing a mechanism whereby Member States can make vaccines available to other Member States that do not have sufficient quantities.
• Vaccination strategy: The Member States will identify priority groups for vaccination.
• Approval process for vaccine: The Council underlines the importance of ensuring that the vaccine is safe and that the vaccine approval process is swift.
• Public information: The Council calls on the Member States and the Commission to cooperate and coordinate important messages on the new influenza for the general public.
• Global cooperation: The EU will continue to support countries outside the EU, particularly developing countries. The Member States and the Commission will be given the task of developing a common position on a needs analysis developed within the UN system.
• Multi-sectoral emergency preparedness: The Council calls on the Member States and the Commission to exchange information on emergency preparedness in order to maintain important public services. The Commission is also tasked with updating its communication on pandemic influenza preparedness from 2005.  

The ministers also discussed the Commission communication  ‘Pandemic influenza (H1N1) 2009’ from 15 September. The communication provided an important basis for the conclusions adopted by the Council at the meeting. The ministers’ discussion focused on public information on the influenza, support for developing countries and preparedness to maintain important public services.

As for the issue of public information, the ministers emphasised the need to avoid conflicting messages.

On the issue of support for developing countries, the ministers emphasised the important role played by the WHO. in the ministers view, a crucial part of the preparatory work in developing countries, in addition to availability of vaccine, was the improvement of health care systems.

The ministers were also agreed that the EU Member States must continue to cooperate on preparedness for maintaining vital public services. Those services that were mentioned in particular were energy supply, transport (for example of food and medications) and functioning telecommunications.

A number of Member States also raised other functions where particular preparedness could be necessary, including access to fuel, access to water, general environmental consideration, operation of nuclear power stations and banking and insurance services.