The Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU presented its health priorities to the members of the European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Health and Food Safety (ENVI) on Monday 23 January (see EUROPE 13092/7). Swedish Minister for Health Care Acko Johansson emphasised that the Swedish Presidency wanted to make progress on several issues: the European Health Data Space (see EUROPE 13103/3), the regulation on substances of human origin and the regulation on fees for the European Medicines Agency.
The Presidency wishes to make progress, under the accelerated procedure, on the transition to the new regulation on medical devices and in vitro devices in order to avoid shortages (see EUROPE 13094/1). It said that a meeting of the relevant working group had been held last week. The Presidency’s proposals received strong support from the Member States. The Minister hopes to gain the support of MEPs.
The Presidency wants to make progress on the expected proposal for a revision of the EU pharmaceutical legislation, orphan drugs and medicines for paediatric use. It will hold an informal meeting on pharmaceuticals in Stockholm on 4-5 May.
The Minister also made the fight against cancer one of the Presidency’s priorities, based on the ‘Cancer Plan’. Highlighting that screening was not enough, she mentioned the ‘cancer prevention’ component. Ms Johansson welcomed the swift adoption of EU Council conclusions and praised the work of parliamentarians, citing the report of the Special Committee on Beating Cancer (BECA).
Sweden’s Minister for Social Affairs and Public Health Jakob Forssmed said that Member States were better prepared thanks to the swift adoption of legislative proposals strengthening the Health Union. He referred to the agreement reached in early January to coordinate European measures in response to the Covid-19 wave (see EUROPE 13092/1). He said that the Member States had met on 19 January to discuss this precautionary approach. The Swedish Presidency will support this coordinated approach. The Minister praised the work of the Parliamentary Special Committee on the Covid-19 Pandemic (COVI).
The Presidency intends to promote European cooperation in the framework of the negotiations for a global treaty on the prevention of pandemics and the European global strategy on health security (see EUROPE 13074/22) and wishes to have EU Council conclusions adopted in the ‘Foreign Affairs’ Council.
The Minister referred to the fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and would like to see the adoption of conclusions on AMR, based on the European Commission’s proposal, at the ‘Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection’ Council in June.
The Presidency will organise a high-level meeting on AMR in Stockholm on 6-7 March.
Finally, the Minister expressed his willingness to address the cross-cutting issue of loneliness and its health and societal dimensions as well as mental health “brought to the forefront” by the Russian military aggression on Ukraine and by Covid-19. (Original version in French by Émilie Vanderhulst)