The current European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi, who is running for the Health and Animal Welfare portfolio in the next college of European Commissioners, intends to be the architect of the strengthening of the EU’s health security architecture.
In his written answers, ahead of his hearing before members of the European Parliament on Wednesday 6 November, he pledged to work to ensure that Europe “is prepared for and well equipped to respond to future health threats” (see EUROPE 13487/10).
He will have to draft a ‘Critical Medicines Act’, through which he hopes to tackle the endemic risks of shortages of essential medicines and medical devices.
The future Health Commissioner believes that it is important to focus on key strategic sectors where Europe can gain a competitive advantage, such as biotechnology (including work on a new ‘European biotech act’) and health data, in particular by implementing the European Health Data Space.
He also intends to continue completing the reform of pharmaceutical products “by supporting co-legislators in achieving the right balance between the much-needed innovation boost and the accessibility, availability, and affordability of medicines that our citizens expect”. He also plans to ensure the implementation of the current framework for medical devices and will assess the need for any legislative changes requested by the European Parliament (see EUROPE 13510/7).
The recent cyber-attacks on hospitals and healthcare systems are “unacceptable”, in his view. He intends to work with digital health players to find ways of detecting, preventing and responding to cybersecurity threats. In collaboration with the Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, “we will prepare a European plan on the cybersecurity of hospitals and healthcare providers in the first 100 days of the mandate”, he writes.
Among other areas of work in terms of health, Olivér Várhelyi also mentions a review of the Tobacco Products Directive (with a focus on “emerging tobacco products”), mental health (especially for children and adolescents) and the fight against the risks associated with antimicrobial resistance. Establishing a coherent framework for “addressing long-term care workforce challenges” is also among his objectives.
The Commissioner-designate will have to monitor the negotiations on the modernisation of the rules on animal welfare standards. He intends to use the latest scientific data, taking into account ethical, scientific and economic considerations, as well as concerns about the competitiveness of European farmers and the expectations of the general public. “I firmly believe that the competitiveness of EU farming needs to be maintained”, he says in his answers.
Finally, Olivér Várhelyi intends to continue efforts to “reduce the risks of pesticide use and promote non-chemical alternatives, which are core objectives of the current Directive on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides”.
His responses: https://aeur.eu/f/e0k (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)