Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government is seeking to negotiate a bilateral arrangement with (a) the European Centre for Disease Control and (b) the Early Warning Response System, individually or as part of the European Neighbourhood Policy Agreements.

As part of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), the United Kingdom may request access to the European Union’s Early Warning and Response System (EWRS) in respect of a serious cross-border health threat. The UK was given access to the EWRS for COVID-19 from 1 January 2021.

The TCA also provides for continued cooperation on scientific and technical matters between the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the UK body responsible for surveillance, epidemic intelligence and scientific advice on infectious disease. We are currently developing a Memorandum of Understanding with ECDC to formalise future cooperation.