The German presidency of the Council of the EU does not intend to reach a general approach on the draft regulation on Health Technology Assessment (HTA). On the other hand, it intends to start the inter-institutional negotiations on the new European programme EU4Health "in September", said German Health Minister Jens Spahn, who presented the priorities of the German Presidency over the next 6 months to the European Parliament's Committee on the Environment and Public Health on Monday 6 July.
The committee will discuss the new EU4Health programme on Tuesday, with Cristian-Silviu Bușoi (EPP, Romania) leading the negotiations in the European Parliament (see EUROPE 12495/7).
Four policy priorities
Mr Spahn outlined four main priorities in the health field, which have already been set out in a document entitled "Together for Europe's Recovery" (see EUROPE 12517/25).
These priorities aim: - to improve crisis management instruments and in particular the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) by establishing "a compatible database between Member States and developing a digital early warning system"; - to improve the supply of pharmaceuticals, medical products and personal protective equipment in the health sector; - to improve pan-European access to and exchange of health-related data; - and to strengthen the functioning of the World Health Organization.
And at the legislative level?
Answering MEPs' questions, the German minister was also obliged to move forward on the legislative side. And in particular, on the one and only proposal in the EU Council pipeline: the draft regulation on health assessments, heavily criticised by Berlin.
As a reminder, Germany and France refuse to allow evaluations to be carried out jointly at European level and the results of these studies to be binding on EU countries (see EUROPE 12508/17).
"We hope that the dossier will be able to make progress over the next 6 months", Jens Spahn said grudgingly (the rotating Presidency of the EU Council is obliged to maintain a certain neutrality). He assured listeners that Germany would continue the discussions in the working group, before raising the importance of avoiding any duplication of work and that one of the major conflicts concerned the different competences of the institutions.
"When it comes to health, it is important to invest. We have to see what can be done with European funds. It is not necessarily a question of budgetary means, but sometimes of how the money we have is used", he said, invoking the sacrosanct principle of subsidiarity.
Informal ministerial meeting on 16 July
Asked to give more details on the lessons to be learned from the crisis (in particular on strengthening EU agencies or on supply capacities), Jens Spahn stressed that these topics would be discussed at a first informal meeting of EU ministers on Thursday 16 July.
"I would have liked this meeting to take place in Bonn, but in the end it will be virtual", the Minister lamented.
On the ECDC, however, he was pleased that all the political groups seem to support this agency. Asked by Jytte Guteland (S&D, Sweden) about the possibility of also strengthening the European Medicines Agency (EMA), Mr Spahn seemed open to the possibility of some consideration of its supervisory powers.
For the rest of the calendar, the German Minister noted that a Health Council would be held on 2 December, with conclusions on the lessons to be learned from the Covid-19 pandemic. He also mentioned a conference in November on digital health and a conference on artificial intelligence. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)