The European Commission Vice-President Margarítis Schinás outlined, on Wednesday 26 October in front of the European Parliament’s Special Committee on the Covid-19 pandemic (COVI), the main thrust of the EU’s strengthened global health strategy, which European Council President Charles Michel announced was being prepared for the Global Health Summit in Berlin (see EUROPE 13046/25, 12971/24).
“Global health is the second pillar of our mandate”, said Kathleen Van Brempt (S&D, Belgian), Chair of the COVI Committee (see EUROPE 13044/23, 13042/27).
The strategy will be unveiled on 30 November and will be the external counterpart of the European Health Union, Mr Schinás said. It should enable the EU to continue to position itself as a leader in global health governance - “with the WHO at its centre” - by drawing from the lessons of the Covid-19 pandemic and the global geopolitical context, marked by the challenge to the ‘rules-based world order’ that the EU defends.
The EU wants to position itself on the international scene as a ‘force for good’. “We want to shape the EU’s leading role in health around the world, in a very complex geopolitical landscape. The external dimension of health policy has gone from useful to essential. It is a welfare issue for all Europeans, but also a key element of our economy, competitiveness, social cohesion and stability. It reinforces the weight and brand of the EU as a force for good that can contribute to better health in the world”, said the Vice-President in charge of Promoting our European Way of Life.
The objectives of this strategy will be threefold:
1) “Regain lost ground by going back to basics”, namely: - achieving universal health coverage, strengthening primary health care and investing in healthy lifestyles;
2) implement a coordinated approach mobilising the EU, its Member States and its financial institutions to achieve these objectives, which implies “thinking in terms of ‘joint ownership and responsibilities’”;
3) promote the right governance framework: by this, Mr Schinás means “a sufficient governance architecture, a strong and accountable multilateral system with the WHO at its centre, but also the many actors in global initiatives ready to support our priorities”, otherwise it will not work, he explained.
“Our internal preparedness and capacity building must be complemented by robust and determined external action. Viruses know no borders and our action will always be ineffective if it stops at borders. It is time to move to this sustained action, including the external dimension of health policy”, he said.
At the end of November, the strategy will be presented by Vice-President Schinás, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, and the European Commissioners for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, and for Health, Stella Kyriakides. It will be accompanied by a first annual report on the EU’s preparedness for health threats, prepared by HERA, which has been operational for only one year.
The aim of this report is to contribute to the implementation of EU coordination and leadership in preparedness against health threats, explained the Commission Vice-President. This will be the first of many.
According to Mr Schinás, the world is not done with Covid-19 and, “even if public and political attention is declining, we need to keep this issue high on our political agenda”. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)