The European Commissioner-designate Olivér Várhelyi, who is running for the portfolio of Health and Animal Welfare in the next College of Commissioners, showed ambition in the field of medicines and biotechnology to MEPs at his hearing, which lasted almost 3.5 hours on Wednesday 6 November, during which he was criticised for his stance on women’s health, including the right to abortion (see EUROPE 13511/24).
“His answers and silence on abortion speak volumes about his reactionary ideology on respect for this fundamental right”, said Christophe Clergeau (S&D, French) after the hearing.
Pascal Canfin (Renew Europe, French) asked: “How can we support a Commissioner who is unable to criticise a Member State - his own - for choosing Russian or Chinese Covid vaccines over EU-approved vaccines, who is unable to explain how he will help women in the EU to have unhindered access to sexual and reproductive health and rights?”
The Coordinators of the relevant European Parliament committees met at around 10.30pm, and the meeting was still in progress at around 11.30pm. Around midnight, several sources mentioned the possibility of putting additional written questions to the candidate before validating his nomination, rather than holding a new hearing.
LGBTQIA+. In response to concerns expressed by Catarina Martins (The Left, Portuguese) about respect for the rights of sexual and gender minorities, the Commissioner-designate said that access to healthcare should be guaranteed “regardless of gender or sexual orientation”. “This has to be accepted by every institution and every doctor”, he added.
Abortion. There are limits to what the Commission can do in terms of abortion rights, according to the Commissioner-designate. The European Parliament can make proposals that “would be more along the lines of treaty reform proposals”, replied Olivér Várhelyi in response to insistent questions from several MEPs from the S&D, Greens/EFA and The Left groups. The Commission is the guardian of the Treaties and must respect the texts, said the outgoing Commissioner for Enlargement.
He also responded very calmly to attacks on his alleged misogyny. “I’m an ally of women, I live with my wife and three daughters”, he said.
“Do you consider that sexual and reproductive health should be an essential element of the Health Union?”, asked Mr Clergeau. “The situation is very clear: we have rules under the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, and all this is crystal clear. Sexual and reproductive rights are human rights”, replied the Commissioner-designate. As far as abortion is concerned, there is no Community competence; the EU countries have jurisdiction, he pointed out.
Olivér Várhelyi also apologised again to MEPs during his hearing, for having called MEPs idiots while forgetting to turn off his microphone during his time as Commissioner.
Vaccines. Some MEPs, such as Vlad Vasile-Voiculescu (Renew Europe, Romanian) and Peter Liese (EPP, German), criticised Viktor Orbán’s Hungarian government for having authorised the Russian Sputnik anti-Covid-19 vaccine, and then the Chinese vaccine, contrary to decisions taken at EU level.
“I will rely on the work of the European Medicines Agency, which is doing an excellent job, including at international level”, promised the Commissioner-designate. In extraordinary cases, prior authorisations granted at national level are permitted, and this is the responsibility of each Member State, justified Olivér Várhelyi.
Patents. Patents are not an obstacle to treatment, assured the former Hungarian ambassador to the EU. They have existed for centuries to bring new pharmaceutical products to market. “We will work to bring non-patented products to market even more quickly”, he said.
Medicines. Responding to questions from Peter Liese on medical devices, Olivér Várhelyi promised to meet the expectations of the European Parliament by completing in 2025 a targeted assessment of current regulations, with a view to presenting legislative changes. He also promised to present implementing acts on devices for orphan diseases and paediatric medical devices.
The Commissioner-designate said that he hopes to complete the pharmaceutical reform measures by pushing ahead with preparations for a Critical Medicines Act to deal with the serious shortages and by taking account of the recommendations of the Critical Medicines Alliance.
Olivér Várhelyi also spoke about the work he intends to carry out in the fight against cardiovascular disease, in addition to the Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan.
Pesticides. Alexander Bernhuber (EPP, Austrian) asked the Commissioner about the availability of plant protection products. “We need to accelerate authorisation procedures”, said the Commissioner-designate. The Commission intends to take action in this area through implementing acts. The Commission also intends to adopt a new European act on biotechnology.
Animal welfare. With regard to the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) on the end of animal cages, Olivér Várhelyi stressed that, when we formulate proposals on the subject, we must ensure that importers do not benefit, because cages will not be banned in third countries, warned the Commissioner-designate. Responding to Tilly Metz (Greens/EFA, Luxembourger), he promised to launch a dialogue in 2025 with all stakeholders, including farmers, in order to find viable solutions.
“We need to improve animal health”, said Mr Várhelyi, who also intends to push ahead with the revision of the rules on animal transport. And farmers need financial aid to support them in their efforts to improve animal welfare.
In response to a question from Carlo Fidanza (ECR, Italian) on cellular meat, he said that one needs to trust the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) on what is safe to eat. He added that the debate on cellular meat is not only scientific, but also ethical. In his view, one solution should be to use the opt-out principle for this technology, similar to the one used for GMOs. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)