In a pre-recorded message broadcast during a video conference organised by the S&D group in the European Parliament on Tuesday 1 December, the President of the European Commission defended a true Europe of Health.
“Two out of three Europeans believe that the EU should be able to act in the field of health in an emergency. The European Health Union is the next step towards a better union”, she said. In her view, the EU’s biggest mistake would be to focus only on today’s difficulties, losing sight of the future. And for good reason: new pandemics could follow, due, in particular, to the loss of biodiversity.
“We need to be sure that in the event of new crises, all European countries are prepared and react equally”, she said, before detailing the recent proposals made by the European Commission in the 11 November package for a European Health Union (see EUROPE 12600/24) and the 25 November pharmaceutical strategy (see EUROPE 12609/10).
EU Health Council of 2 December
It is these proposals that will be at the heart of the EU Health Council on 2 December. German presidency of the EU Council is indeed planning two political debates on these two packages. These discussions will provide a first opportunity for Ministers to formally express their views on the Commission’s concrete proposals. For example, the idea, in the package for a European Health Union, of strengthening the EU agencies or allowing the EU to declare a public health emergency, or the idea, in the pharmaceutical strategy, of strengthening the legislation on paediatric or orphan medicines, in order to avoid the current shortages.
At their meeting, the ministers will discuss the draft conclusions on lessons to be learned from the Covid-19 pandemic in the health field and will be briefed by the Director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Andrea Ammon, on the current epidemiological situation. They will also be briefed on the state of negotiations on the legislative proposal on health technology assessment (HTA) and the EU4Health programme.
At an event co-organised by German pharmacists (ABDA) and the German Presidency of the EU Council on medicine shortages, the expert from the German Permanent Representation, Ortwin Scholz, said he “hopes to be close to a solution” on health technology assessment , without giving further details. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)