An editorial word: Health policy in the Council and a touch on mental health
By Clara Bauer-Babef, Giedrė Peseckytė, Marta Iraola
“It is okay not to be okay” would be a quote of the week if we were to pick one.
Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said it while opening a World Mental Health Day conference on Tuesday (10 October).
The Commission is advocating for a horizontal approach to the mental health of Europeans, of whom almost one out of two have experienced an emotional or psychosocial problem, such as feeling depressed or anxious in the past twelve months, and one in four feel worn out.
The overarching approach to mental health, going beyond health policy, is the key principle of the first-ever EU strategy on mental health, introduced by the Commission in June this year.
An example of the integration of mental health across other policies could be taken from Monday’s (9 October) Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO). EU ministers discussed the effects a precarious work environment can have on workers’ mental health.
Yolanda Díaz, Spain’s acting minister of employment, explained that the Spanish EU Council presidency wants to continue the work the European Commission started with its communication on mental health but putting workers at the centre.
The Council agreed to ask member states to promote quality employment policies to combat precariousness and strengthen public systems that safeguard mental health at work, among others.
They also invited the Commission to reflect on an adequate policy for addressing psychosocial risks at work, consider the right to disconnect as a prevention measure and foster coordination of national initiatives on managing psychosocial risks at work.
Díaz stressed her commitment to ensuring mental health at work as it “should be the right of all working people in Europe and not the privilege of a few”.
Mental health was not the only topic that we followed.
The Spanish presidency also reiterated its position on the Commission’s proposal to create a European disability card on 8 September.
“Since the beginning of our presidency, we have always reiterated our commitment to moving this dossier forward for the Spanish government, and this is something crucial,” said Ignacio Álvarez Peralta, Spain’s secretary of state for social rights.
“We are working hard to achieve as ambitious a position as possible within the Council, guaranteeing respect for people with disabilities,” Peralta added.
Another file currently in the trilogue phase is the directive to prevent and combat violence against women and domestic violence. The main clash among the institutions is whether non-consensual sex as a criminal offence should be included in the file.
While the Commission and Parliament both favour including rape in the directive, the Council completely removed this part from their position, which was agreed on in June 2023.
While the negotiations are ongoing, EU officials are indicating hard work ahead in finding an agreement with EU countries on the matter. During EPSCO, several countries spoke: Greece, Italy and Belgium, expressing their support for including rape in the directive.
The third trilogue on this directive is to take place in mid-November.
Subscribe to EURACTIV’s Health Brief, where you’ll find the latest roundup of news covering health from across Europe. The Health Brief is brought to you by EURACTIV’s Health Team Giedrė Peseckytė, Marta Iraola, Amalie Mersh and Clara Bauer-Babef.
EU News
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- Mental health should be addressed beyond health policy, the Commission says.
- Commission urges EU countries to include rape in the directive on violence against women.
- EU Parliament prioritises access to medicines in the new wastewater regulation.
- Cities and regions want a more central role in the European Health Union.
- EU Parliament calls for harmonisation of rights of autistic people in Europe.
- WHO Europe calls on at-risk people to get COVID-19 and influenza vaccines.
- Mental health should be addressed beyond health policy, the Commission says
Marking the World’s Mental Health Day (10 October), EU lawmakers and stakeholders called for a more comprehensive approach to mental health. The COVID pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and climate change, among others, have significantly impacted the mental health of Europeans in the past years. This shows that it is an issue that cannot be addressed solely from the public health perspective and needs a broader approach. The European Commission presented its communication on this comprehensive approach in June, and now it is the Parliament working on a report of its own seeking more concrete goals and benchmarks and asking for specific funding for mental health. José Miñones, the acting Spanish health minister, also called for collaboration between member states and the need for a budgetary commitment from each country to meet the current challenges.
Marta Iraola has more on this here.
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Commission urges EU countries to include rape in the directive on violence against women
On Monday (9 October), during the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO) in Luxembourg, Helena Dalli, Commissioner for Equality, urged countries’ representatives to find an agreement with the Parliament on the directive to prevent and combat violence against women, urging for rape to be included in the file. The directive is currently in the interinstitutional negotiation phase. Two trilogues down, reaching a compromise does not appear to be easy. The main points of contention are which crimes should be covered by the directive if rape should be included, the terminology linked to gender, and in which form protection for victims of violence should be ensured. “The mandate of the Council and the European Parliament on this file diverge quite substantially,” Helena Dalli, Commissioner for Equality, told countries’ representatives on Monday.
Giedrė Peseckytė reports on the EPSCO meeting here.
- EU Parliament prioritises access to medicines in the new wastewater regulation.
The European Parliament approved at the plenary session in Strasbourg on 5 October its position on the management of wastewater. The report states that, through responsibility systems, producers must contribute to covering the costs of additional treatment of micro-pollutants in urban wastewater. Aiming to guarantee access to and affordability of medicines, EU lawmakers agreed to complement the polluter’s economic responsibility through national funding as they considered medicines ‘vital products’, which should have their access secured. The Parliament added this to the Commission proposal, which called for extended producer responsibility (EPR), an environmental policy approach that shifts the responsibility of a product to the producer, from production and design to recycling and final disposal.
Marta Iraola has more on this here.
- Cities and regions want more central role in the European Health Union
On Tuesday (10 October), the European Committee of Regions (CoR) and EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides discussed local and regional authorities’ role in implementing the steps being taken as part of the European Health Union, including new legislation on cross-border severe health threats, medicines, and digitalisation of health. The CoR members backed the initiatives and called for further inclusion of cities and regions to ensure they are successfully implemented across the EU. According to the CoR, 19 of the 27 EU member states have systems where local and regional authorities bear the primary responsibility for healthcare services.
- EU Parliament calls for harmonisation of rights of autistic people in Europe.
During last week’s plenary on 4 October, MEPs approved a non-binding resolution to harmonise the rights of people with autism in Europe to better consider autistic people’s needs in a move towards a more inclusive society. The resolution argues that the lack of common recognition between countries “greatly complicates their movements from one EU member state to another” – preventing them from “seeking the support they need”. “It’s time now for diagnoses to be recognised in all member states,” French MEP Anne-Sophie Pelletier from the Left told Euractiv, as countries have different recognition systems. EU lawmakers recommend mutual recognition of diagnoses and better access to employment, education, and prohibition of forced sterilisation. Reacting to the Parliament’s statement, Autism Europe (AE) voiced hope that the political message would be heard. “AE is very pleased with the adoption of this resolution, which calls on the European Commission and the member states of the European Union (EU) to take into account the needs of people with autism,” the group said in a press release.
Clara Bauer-Babef has more on this.
- WHO Europe calls on people at risk to get COVID and influenza vaccines
The World Health Organisation (WHO) Europe, the European Commission and the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) called together on Monday (9 October) on people at risk to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and influenza as the cold season is about to start. “COVID-19 and influenza remain serious diseases, particularly for the most vulnerable, including those who haven’t completed their vaccination courses,” Hans Kluge, WHO Europe director, said in the press release. Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides noted, “It is crucial that targeted vaccination campaigns are rolled out to reach people at risk ahead of the winter season, including with the possibility to combine vaccination with COVID-19 boosters”. WHO’s recommendations follow those of the ECDC and the European Medicines Agency (EMA). On Thursday, 21 September, EU health agencies encouraged COVID-19 and influenza vaccine campaigns in member states to target people at risk of severe disease, like people above sixty years old, pregnant women and people with weak immune systems.
Clara Bauer-Babef reported on vaccination campaigns here.
News from the Capitals
AMSTERDAM
Amsterdam loosens health insurance grip on orphan medicines. To ensure patients controlled access to possibly valuable medicines, the Dutch Health Ministry implemented changes that allow case-by-case evaluation and extended trial periods for drugs, giving them extra time on the health insurance package. Read more.
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SOFIA
Bulgaria risks EU fines by giving private hospitals blank cheque for drug purchases. Bulgaria is facing heavy fines from the European Commission as it ignored a 2019 infringement procedure initiated over a lack of an obligation for private hospitals to conduct public procurement for medicines. Read more.
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PRAGUE
Czechia’s planned penicillin production faces criticism. The Czech Health Ministry would like to start penicillin production, which has long been in short supply, but plans face many challenges and criticisms, as there are insufficient financial resources in the country or Europe. Read more.
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DUBLIN
Ireland’s pharma phenomenon: The road to the top and the bumps ahead. Ireland’s pharma phenomenon: The road to the top and the bumps ahead. Read more.
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STOCKHOLM
Major Swedish study to search for long-COVID ‘blind spot’. According to the World Health Organisation Europe, some 36 million Europeans – or one in 30 – may have experienced the so-called long COVID so far. Now a major Swedish research study will try to determine if Pfizer’s anti-viral Paxlovid has any effect on patients suffering from long COVID. Read more.
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AMSTERDAM
Dutch alarmed by students getting unprescribed ADHD drugs to ‘concentrate’. Getting an appointment with a specialist, a diagnosis, and treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the EU can be very long and expensive, with waiting times in public and private health systems sometimes exceeding two years. But for some students in the Netherlands, there seems to be no issue getting unprescribed ADHD meds to help them study. Read more.
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BERLIN
New federal institute to boost German life expectancy. The German government aims to tackle the issue of high patient costs and low life expectancy with the help of a new disease prevention institute, a move that is broadly supported by the health community while the financing aspect is left unclear. Read more.
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STOCKHOLM
Swedish authority proposes new pricing model for orphan and ordinary drugs. With around 150 new orphan drugs due to get market approvals in the EU in the next few years, a Swedish price-setting state agency has developed a game-changer proposal to fund subsidies for the latest treatments. Read more.
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DUBLIN
Dublin readies for health data space as EU talks still ongoing. As the European Commission’s proposal for a European Health Data Space (EHDS) is still being negotiated, Ireland’s relevant preparations are already underway – with Dublin having made it clear that “sustainable investment” will be needed. Read more.
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SOFIA
Bulgarian doctors sound alarm as paediatric health care collapses. Children’s health care in Bulgaria is in a critical situation due to a lack of funding and personnel, while the authorities’ persistence on hospitalisations over outpatient care has frustrated paediatricians. Read more.
[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic]
