Media Partnership - Shaping the future of healthcare in Europe: looking ahead to the new EU political cycle

Euractiv Events and Euractiv's Advocacy Lab

The political term spanning from 2019 to 2024 saw an unprecedented focus on healthcare, not only in terms of the EU’s response to the immediate health crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, but also making significant strides in addressing longer term healthcare challenges across Europe. Anchored by the goal of building a ‘European Health Union’, notable achievements include the €5.3 billion EU4Health programme, including substantial healthcare investments towards preparednessand response to health threats, the launch of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan and a European Health Data Space, and foundational steps towards addressing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) through the Healthier Together Initiative. Meanwhile, the proposed revision of the General Pharmaceutical Legislation represents the most significant overhaul of EU medicines policy in over two decades, the debate on which is set to continue into the next institutional cycle.

As the EU confronts mounting health challenges, the growing burden of NCDs compounded by an ageing population, fiscal constraints, persistent health disparities and a health workforce crisis, Europe’s future political leadership must reflect on lessons learned from the last five years, and look to the road ahead to safeguard the resilience and sustainability of Europe’s health systems and economies.

Listen to the discussion with leading policymakers and experts in EU health policy who will explore key questions including:

• What are the major successes and lessons learned in health policy during the 2019-2024 institutional mandate?
• What should the EU’s health policy priorities be for the next political cycle?
• How can stakeholders across the healthcare ecosystem best collaborate to achieve a successful European Health Union?