Olivér Várhelyi - European Commission
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Olivér Várhelyi

COMMISSIONER (2024-2029) | Health and Animal Welfare

Responsibilities

As Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare, Olivér Várhelyi’s task is to complete the European Health Union. He will do this by diversifying supply chains, improving access to the most advanced treatments, boosting the competitiveness, resilience and security of health systems and working on strategic inventories. 

He is also tasked with building on the One Health approach, which recognises the connection between people, animals, plants and their shared environment.

He is responsible for:

  • proposing a Critical Medicines Act to address the severe shortages of medicines and medical devices and to reduce dependencies
  • leading the efforts to conclude work on the reform of EU pharmaceutical legislation
  • leading the work on a new European Biotech Act to boost innovation in health technology assessment, clinical trials and more
  • ensuring the availability and competitiveness of medical devices           
  • stepping up the Commission’s work on preventive health, including by ensuring the implementation of the European Beating Cancer Plan and by evaluating and revising tobacco legislation
  • continuing the work to combat anti-microbial resistance (AMR) and working with Member States to reach the 2030 targets
  • preparing a European action plan on the cybersecurity of hospitals and healthcare providers 
  • completing the European Health Data Space and making proposals to scale up genome sequencing capacities
  • leading an EU-wide inquiry on the broader impacts of social media on wellbeing
  • modernising the rules on animal welfare, including on the import of exotic animals
  • proposing actions to prevent and reduce food waste
  • enforcing food safety standards, including through increased controls on imported products

Read more about the EU’s public health and animal welfare policies.

Contacts

supporting him in his daily work

Calendar

Commissioner Várhelyi meets with Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe
  • Warsaw, Poland
Commissioner Várhelyi attends the informal EPSCO meeting of Health Ministers
  • Warsaw, Poland

Transparency

Meetings and missions

As part of the Commission's commitment to transparency, Commissioners and their Cabinet members publish information on and minutes of all meetings they hold with interest representatives. Every two months, they also publish an overview of mission expenses.

European Parliament hearings

Read Commissioner Várhelyi's answers to the first and second European Parliament questionnaire. 

Declaration of interests

In line with the Commission's Code of Conduct for Members of the Commission, each Commissioner publishes a declaration of interests. A signed, authentic version is published at the bottom of this page. A machine-readable version of all declarations is also available, as required by the Code of Conduct.

Biography

  1. 2024-present

    European Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare

  2. 2019-2024

    European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement

  3. 2015–2019

    Permanent Representative of Hungary to the EU, Ambassador extraordinary and Plenipotentiary

  4. 2011–2015

    Deputy Permanent Representative of Hungary to the EU, Ambassador extraordinary and Plenipotentiary

  5. 2009–2010

    Head of the European Union Law Department, Ministry of Justice

  6. 2008–2011

    Head of Unit responsible for Industrial Property Rights, Directorate-General Internal Market and Services, European Commission

  7. 2003–2006

    Head of the Legal Service, Permanent Representation of Hungary to the EU

  8. 2001–2003

    Legal counsellor, Mission of Hungary to the EU

  9. 1998–2001

    Head of Cabinet, Head of the Legal Unit, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cabinet of the Deputy Head of the State Secretary for Integration

  10. 1996–1998

    Desk officer, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Department for EC Harmonisation, State Secretary for Integration

  11. 1996

    Desk officer, Ministry for Industry and Trade, Office for European Affairs, Department for EC Coordination and Harmonisation

Documents

  • 1 DECEMBER 2024
President von der Leyen’s mission letter to Olivér Várhelyi
  • 29 JANUARY 2025
Declaration of interests - Olivér Várhelyi