The European Health Union

The European Health Union

Rome [ENA] On 11 November 2020, the European Commission presented its outline for a European Health Union. The current pandemic has especially emphasized deficits in pan-EU crisis management. Consequently, intensified and coordinated cooperation between Member States will be of enormous significance in dealing with such health crises and future ones. In its "Building a European Health Union: Strengthening EU's resilience

to cross-border health threats" communication, the European Commission suggested additional, coordinating tasks in the public health sector at EU level. The European Commission's communication is complemented by three draft regulations. It sets out the preliminary priorities of the envisaged European Health Union: on one hand, the focus is on the legislative strengthening of the EU’s framework covering serious cross-border health threats, and on the other, it is on building up the services of key agencies through the strengthening of the EMA (European Medicines Agency) and the ECDC (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control).

In its communication, the European Commission calls for lessons to be learned from the COVID-19 crisis. Probable future outbreaks of communicable diseases will increase the urgency for forward-thinking planning, good coordination and the strengthening of preparedness and response capacities. Antimicrobial resistance, pressures on biodiversity and climate change would increase and demographic change will result in new health vulnerabilities. All of this requires a holistic approach, on which the European Health Union should be built.

The first proposals refer, in particular to Article 168(5) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). According to the European Commission, the competences of the Member States in the health sector will be "fully preserved". The European Commission also wants to place more binding obligations on the Member States. This intention is expressed, on the one hand, in the upgrading of Decision No. 1082/2013/EU to a regulation in its own right, and on the other, in the cooperation obligations that must be imposed on the Member States. The agreement process between the Council and the European Parliament will show how far the opportunities to create European added value will be utilized.

Significant parts of the intended measures are to be financed through the "EU4Health" programme. Pan-European coordination of health measures has been of limited effectiveness during this coronavirus crisis. In particular, national unilateral action characterized the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, coordination mechanisms at EU level must be improved. For example, the HSC (Health Security Committee), which comprises representatives from the Member States, will be given a stronger mandate to initiate and implement a coordinated response through official guidelines and opinions, which will also be supplemented by Commission recommendations.

In coordination with the WHO (World Health Organisation) and with the support of an independent advisory committee, the European Commission will in future also be able to identify a public health emergency of pan-European concern. As a result, it will be easier to develop, produce, store and procure essential products and to adopt measures to protect health and ensure that the single market functions correctly. By declaring a public health emergency of pan-European concern, the European Commission has provided itself with a tool for legitimising decisive and specific crisis measures, thus strengthening the Union's resilience mechanisms.

Coordinating the measures will be undertaken by the HSC, which comprises representatives from the Member States. This is imperative because the Member States are responsible for coordinating their own health systems and for implementing the measures in a national context. The proposal for a European Health Union aims to establish a new risk assess-ment framework, which will include speedy and applicable recommendations for the implementation of applicable antidotes by the Member States. An EU preparedness and response plan will also be developed in this context. This should form the basis for the pandemic plans to be drawn up in the Member States in accordance with the uniform guidelines.