This is what Minister of Health Magnus Heunicke (S) says at a consultation convened by the Liberal Party and the Conservatives.
– I can not stress enough that it is not my or the government’s intention to hide the advice given by the National Board of Health. The government has followed ordinary practice for law-making practice, says Magnus Heunicke.
On 17 February, Jyllands-Posten described how the parties received the documents on the National Board of Health’s assessments and proposals the day before. This despite the fact that the government has had them since the fall of 2020.
Magnus Heunicke delivered the 1375 pages following a request from the Health Committee on 5 February.
About 1200 of the pages, however, consist primarily of Swedish and Norwegian legislation in the area.
The Minister points out, however, that the parties since summer have continuously had the direct opportunity to hear and inquire into the Danish Health and Medicines Authority’s assessments of a new epidemic law during the follow-up group meetings.
At the same time, Magnus Heunicke states that since the National Board of Health is not an external consultation party, it is quite normal that their consultation responses are not automatically published to the public and the other parties.
According to the Liberal Party’s health spokesman, Martin Geertsen, the process is similar to the adoption of the latest epidemic in March last year. Here, the parties also only gained late access to the National Board of Health’s assessments.
– One should have learned from March 2020 and by one’s own operation informed about the Danish Health and Medicines Authority’s positions, says Martin Geertsen at the consultation.
A new epidemic law is expected to be passed on Tuesday or Wednesday. The current one expires on March 1st.
According to Politiken and Jyllands-Posten, however, the Liberal Party has in the eleventh hour obtained a majority for an amendment to oblige the government to amend the Epidemic Act. This must be done by 15 October.
Source: The Nordic Page
