WRITTEN QUESTION E-3199/02 by Paul Lannoye (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Vaccination requirements in Europe.
Date: 2002-11-08
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU Member State, competence of the Member States, disease prevention, health policy, infectious disease, public health, vaccination

8.5.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 110 E/183

(2003/C 110 E/202)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3199/02

by Paul Lannoye (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(8 November 2002)

Subject: Vaccination requirements in Europe

There is as yet no European legislation on vaccination requirements. Rules in this area vary considerably
within the European Union. Each Member State determines which vaccines it considers should be made
compulsory. For instance,
in France antidiphtheria, antitetanus and antipolio vaccines are compulsory,
whereas only the antipolio vaccine is prescribed by law in Belgium. Some Member States require repeated
doses of the vaccine (’boosters’) to be administered while in others only one dose is obligatory. This gives
rise to obvious discrimination between citizens of different Member States, some of whom are obliged to
have their children vaccinated while others are completely free to choose whether or not to do so. All this
is in fact set out in detail in a survey commissioned by the European Commission and conducted by
Euvax (1).

Should an Italian or British citizen not be free to react in the same way as a Finnish, Greek or Swedish
citizen vis-à-vis the same illness? In other words, should European citizens not all be equal with regard to
vaccination requirements?

Does the Commission not therefore believe that European legislation on vaccination requirements should
be submitted as soon as possible?

(1) Scientific and technical evaluation of vaccination programmes in the EU, Euvax Project report, Kari S. Lankinen,

PSR Consulting Ltd, 2001.

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(13 December 2002)

The Commission recognises the importance of monitoring and keeping under review the vaccination
policies in the Union, and to ensure a high level of health protection by prevention and control of
communicable diseases. A major public health tool to prevent communicable diseases is vaccination.

The Commission can support the Member States in their work to control vaccine preventable diseases and
to eradicate targeted diseases, taking in account their own specific vaccination strategy. In this light, the
Commission is involved in various activities with the Member States relevant to vaccination policy.

The Commission is funding projects to support either specific vaccine preventable diseases surveillance
activities, or more transversal and policy oriented projects. Among this last group it is relevant to mention
the ‘Scientific and Technical Evaluation of Vaccination Programmes in the Union’ (EUVAX). According to
this project, six Member States are running a compulsory vaccination policy that includes immunisation to
protect citizens against poliomyelitis, diphtheria,
tetanus, measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis B and
tuberculosis.

There is no legal basis to impose obligatory vaccination in the Union. The main responsibility for
vaccination policy, like health services and medical care in general, lies with Member States and each has
developed its policy according to national needs. The organisation of health care delivery plays a major
role in determining the variable pattern of vaccine policy application in the different countries.