On 10 July, the European Parliament adopted a resolution by 526 votes to 105 (with 50 abstentions), setting out its view of the principles which should underpin the EU’s future public health strategy post-COVID-19. In a plenary debate with Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides and the Council (on 7 July), MEPs highlighted the need for on the EU’s public health strategy to learn lessons from the COVID-19 crisis, with a number of MEPS arguing for the EU to play a greater role in area of health. Furthermore, MEPs underlined the need to ensure that health systems across the EU are better equipped and coordinated to face future health threats, as no member state can deal with a pandemic such as COVID-19 alone.
The resolution contains over 50 points, including recommendations and calls for action, primarily aimed at the European Commission, including:
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Calling on the Commission to propose a directive on minimum standards for quality healthcare, based on stress testing
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Calling on the Commission to integrate adequate funding of the healthcare system and well-being indicators within the country-specific recommendations as part of the European Semester process
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Calling for an EU Action Plan 2021-2027 on mental health, with equal attention being paid to the biomedical and psychosocial factors of ill mental health
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Calling for an EU Action Plan on healthy ageing to enhance the quality of life of older people
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Calling on the Commission to present a proposal on improving the independent financing of European patient groups.
You can read the text of the resolution here: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/RC-9-2020-0216_EN.html
