The European Parliament adopted by 612 votes to 41, with 36 abstentions, amendments to the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the establishment of a Programme for the Union's action in the field of health for the period 2021-2027 and repealing Regulation (EU) No 282/2014 (EU4Health Programme).
The matter was referred back to the committee responsible for inter-institutional negotiations.
The main amendments adopted in plenary concern the following points:
Programme’s objectives
In keeping with the ‘One Health’ and ‘Health in all policies’ approaches, the programme would:
- improve and foster health in the EU, by supporting health promotion and disease prevention, reducing health inequalities and ensuring equal and full access to health;
- protect people in the EU from any serious cross-border threats to health;
- support the development and implementation of better preparedness and coordination within and between Member States as regards health emergencies;
- support existing and future EU legislation and policies restore pharmaceutical independence and address shortages, improve the availability, accessibility and affordability of health care and services in the EU;
- share comparable and interoperable data, with the aim of increasing the general level of public health, health literacy and make health systems more resilient and responsive.
To achieve these objectives, Parliament insisted, inter alia, on:
- the coordination of stress testing of national healthcare systems;
- supporting actions contributing to the availability in the EU, during a crisis, of health crisis relevant products such as essential medicines, vaccines and medical devices;
- strengthening the European medicines market;
- creating and implementing a European Health Data Space;
- strengthening EU innovation to ensure the development and uptake of the next generation of medicines, vaccines and medical devices;
- EU action against cancer and support for the early diagnosis of neurodegenerative and other brain diseases;
- addressing vaccination hesitancy;
- the development of medicines that are less harmful to the environment.
Budget
Parliament proposed that the financial framework for the implementation of the programme for the period 2021-2027 be set at EUR 10 398 000 000 in current prices (i.e. EUR 9 370 000 000 in constant prices). The administrative expenditure related to indirect actions should not exceed 5% of the total amount of the programme.
Implementation and forms of EU funding
The Commission should facilitate the consistent implementation of the programme while seeking maximal administrative simplification and fostering synergies between the programme and other EU programmes and funds. A reliable and efficient mechanism would be created to avoid any duplication of funding.
The award criteria would be defined in the programmes and calls for proposals, taking into account, as far as applicable, a number of elements such as the cross-border dimension, the contribution to digital transformation, the social impact (benefits and costs), the contribution to the prevention of diseases, in particular cancer, and the contribution to access to medicines.
To achieve a coherent implementation of the Programme's actions, an EU Health Steering Group should be established.