Recommendations
Reshaping health for a stronger Europe
Health is fundamental to the wellbeing of individuals and families, and to our societies, economies and security. Well-performing health systems, a resilient health workforce and a strong footprint in research and innovation for life sciences are key for Europe to remain prosperous and competitive in a turbulent world.
As a broad Coalition whose membership spans all 27 EU countries and all areas of the health and life sciences sector, we are proposing five actions that can help Europe leverage health to achieve its vision for security, growth and competitiveness.
Ensure the meaningful involvement of patients, patient organisations and all other relevant health stakeholders in health policy development, research, and practice.
- Identify appropriate, sustainable funding models to support these stakeholders’ role in policymaking processes
- Deploying people centred methodologies and indicators in healthcare planning and delivery.
Invest in training, education, and retention programs to prepare a resilient, skilled and future-proof health workforce.
- Elevate the health workforce in the Pact for Skills and the planned Quality Jobs Roadmap.
- Support Member States in strengthening their health workforce through EU-funding programmes.
Prioritise investments in health under the EU’s new fiscal rules and ring fence the health budget in the next long-term financial framework (2028-2034), to capitalise and amplify the health sector’s return on investment (ROI) in the medium- and long-term.
- The European Commission can support Member States by providing guidance on how to assess the ROI of different types of health investments, as well as supporting assessments and investment plans that are in line with the new framework.
Help Europe regain its competitive edge, putting research & innovation at the heart of the European Life Science Strategy.
- Ensure access to funding for start-ups, foster an innovation-friendly regulatory framework, and increase Europe’s attractiveness for clinical trials.
- Facilitate the translation of early scientific discoveries into safe and effective innovative products that meet patients’ needs.
- Create and scale up hubs of innovation, to connect industry, manufacturing, researchers and academic hospitals.
- Develop a culture of learning within and between health systems, ensuring the uptake and scaling of innovative best practices.
Create a health and life science office in the European Commission, connecting DG SANTE, DG HERA, DG RTD, DG CNECT, DG ENVI, DG GROW and DG JUST to spearhead a coherent European strategy for this sector.
Previous recommendations
TOWARDS AN EU HEALTH UNION: It’s time to think big!
As Europe faces a geopolitical and energy crisis, with rising inflation and a looming recession creating new challenges for Member States, we should remind ourselves that health is wealth. Our health systems are precious assets which we must nurture and protect. Instead of putting additional burdens on systems that have been strained to the limit by COVID-19, we must continue to invest in health and in the resilience of our systems. Informed by experience of the past and the problems of the present, it is time for Europe to prepare our health systems for a brighter future.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us the importance of cooperation between sectors and actors in ensuring our healthcare systems work to their optimum ability in preventing premature deaths. 40 organisations across the health community have put together concrete recommendations on how the EU could lead in areas such as healthcare systems, policies for health, research and innovation, and health data and digital health.
The Time for Action is Now.
As we head towards the European Parliament elections in 2019, healthcare systems and citizens across Europe are facing unprecedented challenges driven by an ageing population, and increased prevalence of chronic diseases.
A shared vision for the future of health in Europe