EU COVID-19 risk management compensation fund

Question for written answer  E-001512/2021
to the Commission
Rule 138
Luisa Regimenti (ID), Lucia Vuolo (ID), Silvia Sardone (ID), Francesca Donato (ID), Susanna Ceccardi (ID), Anna Bonfrisco (ID), Danilo Oscar Lancini (ID), Stefania Zambelli (ID), Elena Lizzi (ID), Ivan Vilibor Sinčić (NI), Viktor Uspaskich (NI)

European citizens have been suffering and are continuing to suffer serious harm as a result of structural problems, lack of personnel and suitable equipment and the harmful side-effects of therapies and vaccines that have not been fully tested owing to the limited time available in this health crisis.

Numerous legal proceedings have already been initiated against doctors and health facilities operating at national and regional level, with the prospect of an exponential increase in litigation surrounding efforts by the medical profession to contain the epidemic. There is therefore a real risk of mounting case backlogs with serious repercussions on national finances, which have already been severely compromised by the crisis, particularly following the suspension of the EMA-approved AstraZeneca vaccine in many Member States after recipients suffered from multiple thrombosis and pulmonary embolism and hundreds of deaths occurred.

Under these circumstances, the introduction of a European COVID-19 risk management compensation fund would afford a degree of protection to both patients and doctors from the scientific uncertainty surrounding the pandemic and the testing procedures.

In view of this:

Can the Commission say whether it intends to constitute an ad hoc EU compensation fund?