On Monday 24 October, the Council of the European Union formally adopted three building-block regulations of the Health Union to strengthen the EU’s health response capacity.
This is the final step in the legislative process for the adoption of the regulation on serious cross-border health threats and the regulation strengthening the mandate of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). MEPs voted overwhelmingly in favour of both acts on 4 October (see EUROPE 13035/6).
In addition, the Council adopted a regulation establishing a European emergency framework for the provision of medical countermeasures. This regulation was proposed by the European Commission on 16 September 2021, alongside the launch of the new Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA). Political agreement on the text was reached on 20 December 2021 (see EUROPE 12857/9).
The three regulations will enter into force on the 20th day following their publication in the Official Journal of the European Union, which is in November.
The Commissioner for Public Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides, described the regulations as cornerstones of the Health Union and welcomed their adoption.
The Commission recalls that the regulation of 25 January strengthening the role of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), also part of the Health Union, entered into force on 1 March. (Original version in French by Émilie Vanderhulst)