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The COVID-19 crisis has shown that public health threats are more effectively prevented and responded to when approached on a European scale. Beyond simply the issue of health security, this informal ministerial meeting of the 27 EU ministers responsible for health, taking place on 10 February 2022, will aim to consider the future of public health at EU level, in order to more concretely meet citizens’ needs and expectations.
The major progress made by the European Union with regard to health must be continued
In the ongoing pandemic situation, the European Union has successfully demonstrated its ability to react and form a common front with the Member States, the Commission and the European Parliament to best protect its citizens. This common front was clearly illustrated by the numerous medical evacuations between Member States at the height of the crisis, as well as by the implementation of a joint policy for procuring vaccines.
In addition to the COVID-19 crisis and communicable diseases, many crucial challenges confront our societies: chronic illnesses related to the ageing of our populations, antimicrobial resistance, cancer, and more. The European Union has already begun providing solutions to these concerns, with the creation of several innovative measures for cooperation and coordination on specific health matters. These include joint European actions, such as the action on antimicrobial resistance; European reference networks for rare diseases; and Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, which have demonstrated their full added value, in addition to national prerogatives, in better addressing all of these public health issues. The budget of the European health programme, EU4Health was thus raised to €5.1 billion for the 2021-2027 period, a budget ten times greater than that of previous public health programmes.
How can the EU better incorporate health in all its policies, and go beyond sector-specific approaches to address new public health challenges?
The health ministers, along with the European Commissioner for Health and representatives of the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe (WHO/Europe), will come together to consider the most comprehensive way to develop a true Public Health Union, based on the benefits of EU health actions that have been identified before and during the crisis. The European agencies who play a crucial role in these overall health concerns will also take part in the discussions. These include the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for its work on environmental and food safety issues that have an undeniable effect on human and animal health, the new European Health Emergency preparedness and Response Authority (HERA), the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
The French Presidency has thus proposed discussing the future of public health at EU level around three areas of focus:
Identifying areas in health for which action on a European scale would provide added value and which would require increased European governance
Discussing ways to achieve the “One Health” approach in EU policy: The “One Health” concept aims to consider the connections that must be maintained between policies and legislation in different sectors (not only health but also the environmental, agrifood, socio-economic, industrial and digital sectors) to benefit citizens. In other words, how can health issues be further incorporated into EU policies?
Lastly, outlining a “Public Health Union”, through considering how to best harness the full potential of the available European tools. Models for cooperation in other fields can therefore contribute to the debate, such as the European Pillar of Social Rights and the European Green Deal.
These discussions also fully fit into considerations aiming to strengthen the European Union’s central position on the international scene thanks to its recognised contributions and specific values with regard to global health. This topic will have been discussed the day before at the ministerial conference on 9 February 2022, bringing together the EU ministers responsible for health and for foreign affairs for the first time.
