The Council held an exchange of views on pandemic influenza preparedness and planning, focusing specifically on the steps to be taken, at EU level, in order to be prepared in case of a human pandemic influenza.
Delegations expressed their views concerning the establishment of a European strategic stockpile of antivirals and the number of treatments that this stockpile should comprise, the virtual or actual nature of the stockpile, the moment when the stockpile should be established. The exchange of views followed-up the discussion at the informal meeting of Health Ministers in Vienna, in February and April 2006. Discussion on legal, technical and financial aspects of this issue will continue under the forthcoming Presidency.