Public health

EU countries hold the primary responsibility for organising and delivering health services and medical care. The EU public health policy complements national policies to ensure that the EU works towards a stronger European Health Union, which benefits all Europeans.  

The Commission and Member States took a common EU approach to securing supplies of vaccines against COVID-19 and facilitating their distribution, helping to ensure timely access and availability all across the EU. Safe and effective vaccines started to be distributed in the EU by the end of 2020, following strict authorisation procedures and the highest safety standards. Since then, the European Commission has secured up to 4.2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines. As of August 2023, a total of 84.8% of the adult population has been vaccinated against the virus. Team Europe has also shared more than 530 million doses for donation to countries around the world. 

While vaccination was the best way to end the pandemic and get back to normal life, the Commission now remains committed to ensuring that COVID-19 therapeutics are available to treat those who are infected. The European Commission’s strategy on COVID-19 therapeutics supports the development and availability of medicines, including for the treatment of ‘long COVID’, thus complementing the EU Vaccines Strategy, as part of the European Health Union. Nine therapeutics out of fifteen on the lists of potential COVID-19 treatments of 2021 have been confirmed safe and effective by the European Medicines Agency and brought treatment to patients across the EU. The Commission concluded procurement contracts for supplies of two treatments.  

The European Commission issued recommendations on common testing approach and monitoring the spread of the virus and supported the development of monitoring capacity. 

The Commission put forward initiatives to protect the health of Europeans by improving crisis preparedness and response as well as the long-term resilience of healthcare systems in the EU.

Drawing on the early lessons learned from the COVID-19 crisis, the Commission proposed in November 2020 to build a European Health Union. It will equip Europe with all the societal and economic benefits to prevent, prepare for and manage health crises both at the EU and global level. A strong European Health Union will protect our way of living, our economies and societies.

As a result, the coordinated response on the EU level was enhanced. On 23 November 2022, the Regulation on serious cross-border threats to health was adopted. It is a key legal act in the EU health security framework, expanding the already existing EU-level mechanisms for health preparedness, early warning and response, together with the strengthened mandates of two key EU health agencies – the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the European Medicines Agency.

The EU Health Programme for 2021-27, EU4Health, adopted in March 2021 at the initiative of the Commission and underpinned by €5.1 billion funding will strengthen the resilience of health systems and promote innovation in the health sector. EU4Health makes a significant contribution to the post-COVID-19 recovery by making the EU population healthier, supporting the fight against cross-border health threats and boosting the EU's preparedness and capability to respond effectively to future health crises, as part of a future strong European Health Union.

The Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe of November 2020 proposed creating a future-proof regulatory framework and aimed at supporting the industry in promoting research and technologies that reach patients to fulfil their therapeutic needs while addressing market failures. It addressed the weaknesses exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, proposing actions to strengthen the system. In April 2023, the Commission proposed for a new Directive and a new Regulation revising and replacing the existing pharmaceutical legislation.

On the background of the COVID-19 pandemic, in February 2021, the Commission launched the ‘HERA incubator’. This European bio-defence preparedness plan aimed to detect and analyse new variants of the virus, develop vaccines against new variants for which existing vaccines may not have been sufficiently effective, and produce at scale and speed vaccines adapted to new variants. at scale and speed vaccines adapted to new variants.

Building up on this plan, in September 2021, the Commission set up the Health Emergency preparedness and Response Authority – HERA, one of the key pillars of the European Health Union aimed at contributing to Europe’s resilience against future health emergencies and other risks.

HERA anticipates threats and potential health crises, through intelligence-gathering and building the necessary response capacities. It ensures the development, production and distribution of medicines, vaccines and other medical countermeasures in case of emergencies. In its first year of activation, HERA has established an expert group on COVID-19 variants to monitor mutations.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the key body assessing the risk of viral spread and impact on the public health, provided regular risk assessment and epidemiological updates, as well as technical support. ECDC also provided the public with information on the pandemic, spread of the virus, symptoms, testing, treatments and prevention published on the COVID-19 questions and answers page.

The Commission set up the EU FAB – a network of ‘ever-warm’ production capacities for vaccine and medicine manufacturing that can be activated in case of future crises – and begun stockpiling equipment and drugs against chemical and nuclear threats.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, The Commission further proposed concrete measures to avoid a surge of COVID-19 cases, like in the 2022-2023 autumn and winter seasons. At that time, Member States were encouraged to improve the vaccine uptake of the primary vaccination course, prioritise the administration of booster doses, combine COVID-19 and influenza vaccination campaigns, and ensure clear communication to citizens about the benefits of vaccination. The measures also highlighted the importance of strong healthcare systems and capacities in all Member States. Further measures to support the good mental health of healthcare workers and the overall population were also advised.

EU Civil Protection Mechanism and RescEU

During COVID-19 pandemic, and in particular the first months of the crisis, through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, the EU coordinated and co-financed deliveries of over 190 million medical and personal protective equipment items, reinforcement of medical staff at hospitals and provided over 10.5 million vaccine doses to over 55 countries in Europe and worldwide.

The strategic rescEU medical reserve capacity, created by the Commission in 2021 to respond more quickly to needs caused by health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, enabled the swift delivery of over 3 million items of medical and protective equipment and laboratory supplies to Member States facing the pandemic.

Crisis management and solidarity

Cross-border health cooperation

The Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) played a key role in relief efforts, and stood ready 24/7 to assist all countries, in Europe and beyond.

In April 2020, the European Commission issued guidelines on cross-border healthcare cooperation between national, regional and local authorities. The aim was to facilitate collaboration in the transfer of patients, granting qualified medical assistance, ensure patient mobility, facilitate the reimbursement of healthcare costs and overall, to provide relief from the burden placed by the pandemic on national health systems. Requests for cross-border healthcare assistance were coordinated by the Health Security Committee, chaired by the Commission, and the EU Early Warning and Response System.

EU Solidarity Fund

As part of the exceptional EU response to the coronavirus pandemic, the scope of the EU Solidarity Fund was extended in March 2020 to cover major public health emergencies. In March 2021, the Commission proposed an overall package of almost €530 million in financial support, as an additional contribution to support Member States’ and accession countries’ efforts to combat the pandemic. The mobilisation of the EU Solidarity Fund in line with this proposal was approved in May 2021 by the Council and the European Parliament.

^{Disclaimer. The page was last updated in September 2023}