On 10 April, Alzheimer Europe signed an open letter, along with other members of the EU4Health Civil Society Alliance, urging European Commission President Urusula von der Leyen to ensure immediate adoption of the 2025 EU4Health Work Plan and approve full-year funding for civil society organisations under existing Framework Partnership Agreements. The letter notes that health civil society organisations are key partners to European and national institutions in shaping and delivering public health policies, highlighting their work as bridges between policymaking and communities. The signatories express alarm at the delay in publishing the EU4Health 2025 work programme, highlighting that it creates a direct threat to implementation of public health policies and to reaching the objectives of the EU4Health programme.
Furthermore, it is highlighted that the delay impacts significantly on the stability and function of civil society actors who rely on annual grants to operate. The letter notes that in addition to the operational disruption for civil society organisations, the delay risks undermining trust between the European Commission and long-standing partners in civil society, as well a setting a negative precedent for future multi-annual programmes, raising concerns about the reliability and predictability of EU funding mechanisms. The letter concludes by asking President von der Leyen to act with urgency to adopt the 2025 Workplan for EU4Health and guarantee full-year operational funding for civil society under the Framework Partnership. The open letter is available at:
https://eu4health.eu/the-importance-of-operating-grants-for-csos-in-health
