Health in the EU’s post-COVID-19 recovery

Health in the EU’s post-COVID-19 recovery

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The pandemic has stress-tested healthcare systems across the EU. From hospital beds capacity and access to medical equipment to securing reliable supply chains of lifesaving treatments, the pandemic has put under the spotlight longstanding weaknesses in our health care policies and systems, some stemming from years of budget restrictions.

But while the crisis has revealed how much member states can differ on strategies like mask policies or testing, it has also seen the European Commission taking the center stage on procurement of vaccines, medicines, and medical equipment. It played a huge part in securing the historic €5 billion EU4Health budget and a place for health in the recovery and resilience facility. And it is heavily impacting and influencing the Commission’s health policy for the next few years, with the publication of an EU Response Package, of a new Pharma Strategy and an agreement on a budget for a standalone health program – EU4Health – more than ten times that of previous health programs.

What can the EU concretely do with this flurry of new initiatives and the impetus from a crisis unprecedented in modern times? As Europe ponders its path to recovery, there is a unique opportunity to tackle the longstanding challenges of our health care systems which have been laid bare in the past year.

• Can the “European Health Union” focus both on crisis preparedness and long-term health care system resilience?
• What can the Next Generation EU recovery plan — and in particular the EU4Health €5 billion program and the recovery and resilience facility’s health pillar — accomplish? What should be the priorities as member states draft their national plans?
• While the pandemic saw the European Commission take a stronger lead on health in 2020, will it lead to more Europe in health in the long term? Or highlight its weaknesses?
• How is the EU going to make a difference in the long-term with its flagship cancer plan and pharma strategy?
• What can we learn so far from the “HERA incubator”? How is the collaboration working and what does it mean for European innovation? Is it shaping up to be the promised “European BARDA”?
• What are the remaining gaps in the EU’s health powers and can it plug the holes within the framework of the current EU treaties?

This POLITICO Live event will convene EU and national policymakers, health experts, and industry leaders to dive into how the pandemic is changing the balance in health care and what recovery will look like for the bloc’s health care sector.

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Time
Description

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Welcome Remarks by POLITICO’s moderator, Jillian Deutsch, reporter, POLITICO

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Panel Discussion with Q&A

  • Elvire Aronica, deputy delegate for European and International Affairs, French Ministry of Social Affairs and Health
  • Pierre Delsaux, deputy director general, directorate general for health (DG SANTE), European Commission 
  • Anniek De Ruijter, associate professor European Law, University of Amsterdam
  • Nathalie Moll, director general, European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) 

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Closing Remarks

Speakers

Elvire Aronica

deputy delegate for European and International Affairs, French Ministry of Social Affairs and Health

Pierre Delsaux

Pierre Delsaux

deputy director general, directorate general for health (DG SANTE), European Commission 

Anniek De Ruijter

Anniek De Ruijter

Anniek de Ruijter, associate professor European Law, University of Amsterdam

Nathalie Moll

Nathalie Moll

Director general, European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA)