Plans to address the risk of a terrorist attack with non-conventional weapons are not part of the EU summit on 17-18 December, despite the growing risk of a such an attack by ISIS on European soil, according to analysts and EU institutions.
A new report from the American National Research Council (NRC) says that global efforts are needed to anticipate and prevent potential misuse of advances in life sciences.
A conference, held in Brussels on 25 April, asked the question: "Countering bioterrorism: how can Europe and the United States work together?" The discussion, however, came up with little in the way of concrete answers.
The Commission and representatives of the
pharmaceutical industry have discussed plans this week for an
EU-wide strategy to ensure production, supply and availability
of medicinal products for preventing or treating the effects of
a biological attack. The Commission and industry
representatives explored mechanisms that could be set up to
counter possible attacks by biological agents such as Anthrax
or Smallpox.
Commissioner for health and consumer protection, David Byrne, called for an urgent review of EU defence mechanisms against potential bioterrorism attacks on its food chain. The commissioner told EU ministers of agriculture in Luxembourg on 23 October that he would talk to several ministers of health later this week to discuss relevant defence mechanisms.
