The exchange of views between MEPs and the Austrian Council presidency in the committee on the environment and public health on 11 July got to a flying start. The chairperson of the parliamentary committee, Adina-Iona Valean (EPP, Romania), urged Vienna to give its support regarding the future of the “health” programme.
“We believe it is a mistake to integrate this programme into the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), as the European Commission proposed in the multiannual financial framework, because the objectives are very different”, said Valean. She added that the “health” programme “will be lost in terms of visibility, effectiveness and focus” if part of a financial instrument that is 20 times bigger.
The Austrian minister for health, social affairs and labour, Beate Hartinger-Klein, however, did not have the same understanding of the issue. She felt that “integration” is “good news” because “fusion means strengthening of the pillar of European social rights”.
For the remainder, she said that the Austrian presidency would seek to reach a partial general orientation “soon” on the evaluation of health technologies and support from the Council to the recommendation on vaccination in December. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)