The European Parliament adopted by 526 votes to 105, with 50 abstentions, a resolution on the EU’s public health strategy post-COVID-19.
The text adopted in plenary was tabled as a joint resolution by the EPP, S&D, Renew, Greens/EFA and GUE/NGL groups.
COVID-19 has highlighted the fact that the European Union does not have strong enough tools to deal with a health emergency such as the spread of a novel infectious disease, which by its nature knows no borders. The outbreak exposed the difference in capacity between the Member States’ healthcare systems, and demonstrated that, in circumstances where an unexpected health threat emerges, some Member States may become reliant on their neighbouring countries having sufficiently resilient systems.
Improved cooperation
In its resolution, Parliament called for:
- the European institutions and the Member States to draw the right lessons from the COVID-19 crisis and engage in far stronger cooperation in the area of health;
- rapid, equal and affordable access for all people worldwide to future COVID-19 vaccines and treatments as soon as they are available;
- stress tests to be carried out on Member States’ healthcare systems to identify weaknesses and verify that they are prepared for a possible resurgence of COVID-19 and any future health crisis;
- the presentation of directive on minimum standards for quality healthcare, based on the findings of the stress tests, maintaining the competence of Member States in the management, organisation and funding of their healthcare
systems, but guaranteeing patient safety, decent working and employment standards for healthcare workers and European resilience in the face of pandemics and other public health crises;
- the creation of a European Health Response Mechanism (EHRM) to respond to all types of health crises and to strengthen operational coordination at EU level;
- the creation of a digital exchange platform, such as the COVID-19 Data Portal, to facilitate the exchange of epidemiological data, recommendations to health professionals and hospitals, and the exact state of mobilisable capacities and stocks of medical products;
- strengthened cooperation with third countries on the exchange of knowledge and best practices in the preparedness and response of health systems.
Vaccinations
Given that vaccine hesitancy and its impact on public health is a growing concern, Members called for EU joint procurement to be used for the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, and for it to be used more systematically to avoid Member States competing against each other and to ensure equal and affordable access to important medicines and medical devices, in particular for new innovative antibiotics, new vaccines and curative medicines, and medicines for rare diseases. Parliament also suggested the adoption of an EU vaccination card.
Financing
The EU4Health Programme with a proposed budget of EUR 9.4 billion is a strong indication of the increasing role of the EU in terms of health public policy. Parliament strongly welcomed the significant increase in the proposed budget for this programme. However, it stressed that increases in the EU’s health budget should not be limited to the upcoming MFF, but that long-term investments and commitments are needed. It requested the establishment of a dedicated EU fund to strengthen hospital infrastructures and health services, subject to clear criteria.
Lastly, Parliament considered that the lessons learnt from the COVID-19 crisis should be addressed as part of the Conference on the Future of Europe, which could come forward with clear proposals on how to bolster EU health policy.