EU Affairs

The public consultation on the Green Paper on Ageing & the launch of Active and Healthy Living in the Digital World

On the 27th January 2021, the Commission adopted a Green Paper on Ageing, opening a Public Consultation which will run until the 21st of April. The Paper sets out the impact of the ageing demographic trend across our economy and society, and promotes a ‘life-course’ approach, stating that we start ageing the moment we are born.

New milestone for the European Pillar of Social Rights

On Thursday March 4th, the European Commission published the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan, which sets clear objectives for Member States and the Union, to be reached by 2030. This ambition to become a strong Social Europe includes special focus on jobs and skills for the future, and further establishes the foundations for a fair, inclusive and resilient socio-economic recovery of the EU at large.

MEPs Mobilising for Diabetes launch Blueprint for Action on Diabetes

On Thursday, February 25th, The European Parliament Interest Group, MEPs Mobilising for Diabetes (MMD), launched its Blueprint for Action on Diabetes in the European Union by 2030.

MEPs Mobilising for Diabetes was established under co-chairs MEPs Sirpa Pietikäinen and Christel Schaldemose in November 2020 in response to the growing

Less than 3% of the healthcare expenditure in the EU goes to preventive care

According to the latest figures published by Eurostat, EU member states on average only spend 2,8 % of their healthcare budget on preventive care, which translates into an expenditure of 82 EUR per inhabitant on average.

Open Letter to Heads of Government recommends promotion of Physical Activity to combat NCDs

The WHO, UNICEF, NCD Alliance and the Norwegian Minister of International Development recently penned an open letter to the Heads of State and Government entitled, “Building Back Better: Investing in healthy populations and resilient health systems for NCDs and Mental Health to be better prepared for future crises”.

Commission’s Green Paper on Ageing highlights the importance of physical activity

The European Commission recently published its Green Paper on Ageing: Fostering solidarity and responsibility between generations. The rapidly ageing demographic of Europe brings challenges and opportunities which society must meet.

The European Commission presents the Europe's Beating Cancer Plan

On Wednesday February 3rd, the European Commission presented its long-awaited Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan.

The European Commission presents the new EU4HEALTH programme

On Friday 22nd January, the European Commission hosted a webinar to present the new programme “EU4Health – A vision for a healthier European Union”. The provisional political agreement on EU4Health was reached by the European Parliament and Council last December.

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

2021 has started with a busy schedule for European institutions. The European Parliament, among others, has been proactively working on gender equality issues, debating the pandemic effects over gender inequalities or equal access to healthcare. MEPs further adopted three resolutions based on the legwork of the Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) Committee reports, which notably welcome the European Commission’s EU Strategy for Gender Equality for 2020-2025. Last week’s plenary sessions, on said reports, voted to adopt a resolution.

EC publishes Expert Panel opinion on the organisation of resilient health & social care following the pandemic

In December last year, the European Commission published the Expert Panel opinion on the organisation of resilient health and social care following the COVID-19 pandemic.