On 11 September, the European Parliament hosted a Plenary Debate on the subject of “a European strategy for addressing Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia”. The debate was opened by the Commissioner for Budget, Anti-Fraud and Public Administration, Piotr Serafin, who outlined some of the current actions of the European Commission in relation to dementia. During the debate which followed, the following MEPs spoke:
- Tomislav Sokol (EPP, Croatia)
- Maria Guzenina (S&D, Finland)
- Margarita De La Pisa Carrión (PfE, Spain)
- Aurelijus Veryga (ECR, Lithuania)
- Tilly Metz (Greens/EFA, Luxembourg)
- Valentina Palmisano (The Left, Italy)
- Marcin Sypniewski (ESN, Poland)
- András Tivadar Kulja (PPE, Hungary)
- Mariateresa Vivaldini (ECR, Italy)
- Laurent Castillo (EPP, France)
- Lukas Sieper, (NI, Germany)
- Nina Carberry (EPP, Ireland)
- Bogdan Rzońca (ECR, Poland)
During the debate, a number of MEPs shared their personal experiences of the condition, as well as highlighting the numbers of people living with the condition and the societal cost. They also called for greater action on the part of the EU, highlighting the need for greater investment across health, research and social policies, with a number of MEPs calling for a dedicated European Action Plan on Dementia, as well as a dedicated research mission within the Horizon Europe research programme.
In his closing statement Commissioner Serafin welcomed the debate and engagement of MEPs, and committed to taking the idea of a dedicated research mission on dementia back to the College of Commissioners.
The full plenary debate is available at: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/plenary/en/vod.html?mode=chapter&vodLanguage=EN&internalEPId=2017038820036&providerMeetingId=20250911-0900-PLENARY#