Civil society and EU policymakers outline recommendations to strengthen the EU Health Union
On 26th March 2025, the EU4Health Civil Society Alliance organised an event in the European Parliament to discuss the future of the European Health Union and integrating health in the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).
The event titled "Unlocking Europe’s Future: Prioritising Health under the next Multiannual Financial Framework" was hosted by MEP Tilly Metz (Greens, Luxembourg), MEP Stine Bosse (Renew, Denmark), MEP Vytenis Andriukaitis (S&D, Lithuania) and MEP András Tivadar Kulja (EPP, Hungary). The panel discussion, chaired by Milka Sokolović (EPHA) and Anca Toma (EPF Executive Director), gathered Irene Norstedt (European Commission, DG RTD), Michele Calabrò (EUREGHA), Marleen Kestens (European Heart Network) and Marleen Bekker (Wageningen University, EUPHA).
During the opening part, all four MEPs stressed that public health must be a top priority in the next MFF, with special focus on addressing healthcare workforce shortages, reducing the burden of non-communicable diseases, ensuring medicine supply, and enhancing emergency response capabilities. It was made clear that the EU must be self-sufficient in healthcare to avoid crisis situations, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
The panel discussion, chaired by Milka Sokolović and Anca Toma, explored the challenges and solutions for strengthening the European Health Union. All speakers highlighted the need for more funding for research, direct funding for citizen-led research, redistributive welfare, and digital education.
A key lesson from this event is the importance of providing the necessary means for the EU Health Union to be properly implemented, as well as the need to continue providing long-term funding for civil society organisations, allowing them to play their part in this endeavour. We reaffirm our call to:
- Make health a central pillar of the EU budget.
- Ensure stable and sustainable funding for health non-profit organisations.
- Involve civil society organisations from the outset to achieve the health objectives in the next MFF.
Read more details about the event here.
On 13th March, the EU4Health Civil Society Alliance released a statement, expressing strong concerns about the future of health civil society organisations, and the lack of information on the EU4Health work programme 2025. The European Commission has launched a public consultation to collect views on the MFF until 7th May 2025.