The European Commissioner for Health, Stella Kyriakides, has announced an unprecedented budget for the EU's future Health Programme, which has been drawn up by her institution. She was questioned on Tuesday 19 May, during an online conference, by the Social and Health Affairs Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), who are responsible for a report on the management of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mrs Kyriakides recalled the actions already implemented by the European Commission and stressed the importance of solidarity in the future, both between EU Member States and in respect of non-Member States. She is of the opinion that it is crucial to strengthen the European system and define a structural approach. A key focus of this action will be a pharmaceutical strategy that is capable of responding to shortages, including in the event of a crisis. The Commissioner also announced that the European Commission is working on a new EU health programme with an unprecedented budget intended to strengthen the future EU framework programme for research and innovation, Horizon Europe.
The PACE report, which is the responsibility of Andrej Runko (European United Left) from Germany, will be debated and voted on by the Assembly's Standing Committee next June. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)