The European Union’s healthcare policy

Joint healthcare policy at the level of the EU

Corina Cristea, 20.11.2020, 14:00

The ongoing
sanitary crisis can be viewed as an opportunity to progress, while the return
to the old normality is no longer an option. This is Brussels’ stance,
expressed by the European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella
Kyriakides.

The past year the crisis has taught us how crucially important
health is for each and everyone of us. It has shown us how fragile our
societies are, and how fast everything can be turned upside down by something
so small, that is invisible to the naked eye. It has taught us that health is a
pre-condition of our societies and economies to function and it has reminded us
of the value of solidarity and cooperation, and being united in diversity, to
overcome the health crisis in modern times. The past year has shown us that
fragmentation makes all the states vulnerable.

The
coronavirus pandemic emphatically highlighted the relevance of a unanimous
response in crisis situations. The European Commission has put forward the idea
of establishing a new Public Health Europe. Moreover, a new special agency will
be set up, as a guarantee of the fact that the European Union does have the
means to cope with the future sanitary crises. Pleading for a Healthcare
European Union and the strengthening of the European healthcare system, the
president of the European Commission, Ursula Von Der Leyen, in mid-September,
in her annual speech on the state of the European Union specified that this was
a global crisis, we need to learn the global lessons, we need to make the new
Public Health Europe program to stand the test of time. Next year, the European
Union will call for a global summit on healthcare, to be held in Italy, in a
bid to better prepare for the future pandemics, Ms Von Der Leyen also said. The
President of the European Commission also emphasized the necessity of the
strengthening of the European Medicines Agency and the European Center for
Disease Prevention and Control. Ms Von Der Leyen also spoke about the creation
of a European agency for advanced research and development in the field of
bio-medicine, taking up on a model existing in the USA.

The proposal
package prepared by the Commission targeted the strengthening of the European
Union’s Strategic Framework on Health and Safety, the preparation for crises
situations and rendering the European healthcare agencies more efficient.

The European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella
Kyriakides:

‘This is going to be a step change for EU’s capacity
to respond and coordinate. Our response in the future will be stronger and also
more pro-human. It will be stronger because together with ECDC, formally adopt
recommendations and what response measures to take, it will be more coherent because
our measures will be based on the same scientific basis. This will avoid the
confusion that citizens can feel when they are tested with fundamentally
different measures in place. We will now also be able to declare emergency
situations together at EU level and activate our emergency response mechanisms,
for example, in order to procure the necessary equipment.

Having
a new regulation system as the underlying legal framework for the serious cross-border healthcare threats, recommendations and plans are to be
drafted at the level of the European Union for the preparation in the case of
healthcare crises. In the event of a pandemic, surveillance will be improved
through a future integrated and strengthened European system. Furthermore, the EU member states will have the
responsibility of providing a more accurate report on the healthcare system
indicators, for instance, the availability of hospital beds, the specialized
treatment and Intensive Care capabilities, or the number of staff members with
medical training. Also, whenever a state of emergency is declared, the European
Union will be entitled to coordinate actions on a unitary basis, to create
supplies and buy the necessary produce. The Commission has announced that, by
the end of next year, it will also put forward the setting up of a health
emergency response authority.

With
an overwhelming majority, the European Parliament endorsed the proposals,
thereby offering a strong mandate for the negotiation with the Council of the
European Union of the final version of EU4Health, for which 5.1 billion Euros
will be earmarked. The set target pertains to the program beginning to run for
the benefit of patients and medical systems of all EU member states as of
January 2021. Through this program, sufficient medicines stocks will be
provided, as well as vaccines, sanitary materials and devices, with a view to
coping with the medical crises. EU4Health will also be a powerful instrument in
the fight against cancer and cardiovascular diseases. The program will also
give a better chance to patients suffering from chronic and rare conditions. EU4Health
will also contribute to the better treatment of patients suffering from
diabetes or patients who are affected by mental disorders. EU4Health will also
help a series of prevention and screening programs to be run for EU member states. It will also
support vaccination, and, last but not the least, it will support research,
innovation and the digitization of the healthcare systems.

(Translation by Eugen Nasta)