EU long-term budget: Is health funding on the chopping block?
Emerging priorities such as defence and competitiveness are increasingly drawing resources away from other sectors, raising concerns that health – a key focus of the previous EU mandate – may pay the highest price in the upcoming long-term EU budget.
The European Commission is expected to unveil its proposal for the next seven-year budget in July. However, early leaks and mounting speculation suggest that the dedicated health fund could be merged with broader funding instruments, or potentially scrapped altogether.
Although health policy is primarily the responsibility of national governments, EU member states allocated €5.3 billion for health through the EU4Health programme in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This marked the first time a standalone health budget was created at the EU level.
Prior to this, EU health initiatives operated with much smaller resources: The health programme for 2014–2020 had a total budget of just €450 million, significantly less than EU4Health.
Since its launch, EU4Health has financed a range of initiatives, such as a recent €1.3 million project to address the nursing shortage across Europe by promoting the profession in countries most affected.
Yet many fear that the programme will not survive the next programming cycle. Even some EU officials have hinted that EU4Health may have been a one-time measure.
Lawmakers have raised alarms about the potential disappearance of EU4Health and its impact on flagship initiatives from the previous term, such as the Beating Cancer Plan.
Croatian MEP Tomislav Sokol pointed out the importance of maintaining a dedicated health budget since health has become one of the most important topics in the EU after the pandemic.
For this reason, the EU has opted to create a separate health programme within the bloc's budget to support initiatives like the EU health data space and the European reference networks.
'If we're not able to protect this, I'm afraid this will all be diluted and absorbed by some other big funds in the budget, and we will lose this focus on healthcare that we have now,' he told Euronews.
Sokol also cited newer priorities like the Critical Medicines Act, arguing that they, too, will require substantial EU funding.
"Of course, healthcare remains largely a national responsibility, but EU support is needed to create a level playing field across member states," he added.
Concerns over future health investment stem in part from recent budget reallocations. In February 2024, approximately €1 billion was redirected from EU4Health to help finance an aid package for Ukraine.
The looming cuts are causing anxiety in the health sector. The PHSSR – a coalition of academics, policymakers, and politicians working on sustainable health systems – highlighted the need for continued investment in a recent report ahead of the Commission's proposal.
In an interview with Euronews, AstraZeneca senior vice-president Greg Rossi, who participated in the PHSSR, stressed that Europe risks falling behind in life sciences.
"We're seeing massive innovation and opportunity in improving health outcomes. My area, cancer, has seen extraordinary advances in the last 10 to 15 years. But Europe is losing ground," he said, adding that research and development funding has declined, with clinical trials increasingly moving out of Europe.
He warned that, without specific health investment initiatives like a dedicated EU health funding, access to innovation will worsen, health outcomes will deteriorate, and Europe's competitive edge will erode.
'Health is an investment to be made, not a cost to be managed. And if we do so, we'll improve the health and the wealth of our countries,' he said.
The European Commission is preparing a comprehensive overhaul of the its long-term budget, also known as Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) post-2027.
The aim is to make it simpler, more effective, and more aligned with evolving policy priorities.
Currently, the MFF stands at around €1.2 trillion – roughly 1% of the EU's GDP. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is considering a major restructuring of the MFF for 2028–2034, possibly moving away from the current system of over 50 EU-level programmes.
Budget Commissioner Piotr Serafin previously indicated that the next budget proposal will focus on "fewer, more focused programmes" and a more strategic, ambitious framework.
The European Commission's proposal, expected in mid-July, will offer the first concrete signal of what lies ahead for health funding in the EU.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
an hour ago
- France 24
Spain economy minister urges fair, balanced EU-US tariff deal
"There is still a long way to go to reach an agreement, but there remains the will to do so," Cuerpo told AFP in an interview on Thursday. His comments came on the sidelines of a trip to Houston, Texas, as he sought to reassure Spanish businesses rattled by US President Donald Trump's wide-ranging tariffs. Trump has slapped a 10 percent tariff on almost all trading partners including the European Union since returning to the presidency in January. He also threatened to impose heftier duties of 50 percent on the bloc, although pausing the higher rate until July 9. For now, Trump's existing tariffs, including 25 percent US duties on imported automobiles and 50 percent levies on steel and aluminum, are affecting European companies, Cuerpo said. Pressure is mounting as July approaches. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNBC this week that an EU deal will likely be among the last that Washington completes, even as he remained optimistic that both sides would reach this goal. Arriving at a deal by July 9 would be ideal as it signals "certainty and confidence," Cuerpo said. He maintained that things are "progressing," stressing that "there is unanimity among the 27 member states to reach a fair and balanced agreement." No 'overreaction' He added that while Europe has prepared a response package to Trump's tariffs, Brussels is holding off implementation so that it cannot be "interpreted as an escalation in this tariff conflict." It is critical that the EU gives a "very clear signal" that it wants to strike a deal with the Trump administration, he said. "The fundamental thing is to avoid any element of overreaction," he added. Besides the EU, higher US tariffs on goods from dozens of economies including Japan and India are also due to take effect in July. Trump has taken an especially harsh stance on China as Beijing pushed back on US levies, with both sides engaging in an escalating tariffs war that has only been temporarily rolled back. The Spanish minister expects Trump's tariffs to have limited effect on his country's economic growth this year, given its smaller exposure to the US market. But he warned that certain sectors like olive oil and wine are at higher risk as more of such exports head to the United States. In the interim, Cuerpo noted the importance too of the Mercosur agreement, a trade deal between the European Union and four South American nations including Brazil. Asked if a new global trade order is emerging, Cuerpo said: "This feeling is widely shared." "We are witnessing a rebalancing of these trade relations at the international level and what nobody knows is what's the new point we will reach," he added.
Euronews
an hour ago
- Euronews
Middle East power balance has tilted dramatically to Israel
Iran suffered huge military losses during the Israeli strikes and has limited capacities to hit back, according to an independent security expert Claude Moniquet. Moniquet served as an intelligence officer in the French services and has written several books about the region. He told Euronews that Israel committed an act of war on Iran. "I will not call an operation that involved more than 200 planes, missiles, 300 strikes, 100 sites hit, and at least a dozen or fifteen Iranian leaders eliminated a limited operation. It is an act of war that has been expected for 25 years. For 25 years, the Israelis have been saying that they will not tolerate Iran having an atomic bomb. Iran has been warned multiple times." Moniquet said that Iran now has four options by way of response, of which the first - sending drones towards Israel - has already begun. "They have already started trying to use drones to deliver direct strikes on Israel. The second possibility is a joint operation with proxies like Yemen's Huthis," he said. The third possibility, according to Moniquet, that they will deploy "one way or another" in the long or medium term, is "the use of terrorism". "Iran is a terrorist state that has attacked, including Europe and France, multiple times over the past 40 years," he said. "And the last possibility, if there were an escalation, would be the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz, which would be a disaster for Europe." He added that the chance of a full-scale war in the region is not out of the question, but added that Iran has limited capacities for that. "The extent of their responses will determine what happens next, and we can effectively fall into an all-out war. Now, quite clearly, I don't think the Iranians have the capacity to wage an all-out war against Israel, which has air supremacy in the region. We have seen that Iran's military-security system is totally disorganised." According to Moniquet, Israel systematically weakened Iranian proxies in the region with the war against Hezbollah and Hamas in the past few years, and now delivered a blow that will change the balance of power. "Iran today has undergone, whatever they say, a very, very heavy military failure, and it is not over. However, behind Hezbollah, behind Hamas, behind the Houthis in Yemen, what do we find? We find the Iranians. So what is happening, if the Israelis go far enough, is likely to change the whole geopolitical map in the Middle East." The expert added that this could also offer a chance for the Iranian population to revolt against the its leadership. Claude Moniquet said the conflict puts Europe on a high security risk footing. "They may well ask a Hezbollah cell or an Iranian cell like the one that was dismantled in London a few weeks ago to strike somewhere in Europe. This is an important possibility, and it means that Jewish communities, Israeli diplomatic and commercial interests, Israeli boats, Israeli planes, but probably also American interests, are now in a position of risk in Europe and could be hit." Moniquet said that the European Union has lost influence in the region and has no say in diplomacy over the future of the Middle East. "For Europe, but everyone sees that the European, as they say in soccer, is sitting on the sidelines. Negotiations were taking place between the Americans and the Iranians, the Europeans were excluded. Europeans have been pretty much excluded from all major diplomatic manouevres around the war in Gaza or the war in Lebanon." The main reason behind this loss of influence, Moniquet believes, is to be found in Europe's dwindling military power. The severity of the European Union's housing crisis has made it harder for citizens to find a home, as a combination of housing supply shortages and high rents continues to be a major issue. According to Eurostat, house prices went up by 48% and rents went up by 22% in 2023. Meanwhile, inflation drove overall prices up by 36%. And the burden has largely affected younger people the most. On average in 2023, EU households spent 19.7% of their disposable income on housing. In the same year, Eurostat data shows that young people make up a significant portion of the population that spend at least 40% of their income on housing. Furthermore, 26% of young people in the EU live in overcrowded housing, 9.2% more than the overall population. Speaking to Euronews, Housing Europe secretary general Sorcha Eduards said "We are compromising the capacity of youth to become independent, start their own lives, start their families. So again, in countries where we have a critical mass of limited-profit housing, we've seen that the age for becoming independent is indeed higher than countries that don't have that." "So, I think this already signals that increasing the amount of limited-profit housing and improving access criteria helps young people actually access that (housing)." The crux of solving this issue can be identified with a change in mentality. "We've relied too much on market forces, and then of course since 2008 we've had, with the great financial crisis, a huge impact on the capacity of the construction sector, so there was a big reduction in the number of companies delivering but also an increase in difficulty of households in actually paying their bills," says Eduards. "And I think when you look at that, we wouldn't be here, we wouldn't be talking about the housing crisis if rents and house prices had stayed aligned with income. But we've had a huge, let's say, differentiation now," she notes. When it comes to short-term rentals, Eduards explained that it "is another example where public policy has not kept up with societal needs. So, we are not making sure that our cities can house our students, that they can house our low and middle-income groups and that they can adequately house the elderly. We are allowing short-term lets to erode long-term lets." "We end up in a situation where we have empty apartments that are merely an investment. We are pushing students out of school, and families to the outskirts. We are pushing workers that are needed in the city centre to the outskirts, causing them a huge amount of stress." Some countries have already identified what the problem is. In the EU, some countries have already set up sustainable housing models. In Germany, 3.2 million people live in cooperatives, a not-for-profit model which is entirely democratic. In Belgium's Flanders region, poverty was reduced by 40% amongst people who have access to social housing. Denmark has launched programmes to ensure that young people can have access to scholarships, and that they can avoid slipping into a long-term "couch-surfing" situation, putting them at risk of becoming homeless. In the Netherlands, over 20–30% of residents live in limited-profit housing. The ideas are there, says Eduards, but we need to rely a lot less on market forces and go back to viewing housing as a fundamental right. "I think it's a time for a change in the paradigm. It's a time to build up a critical mass of housing that is responsible, that caters to our societal needs, and is not only about maximising short-term profit month-to-month", she argues.
France 24
an hour ago
- France 24
Iran is no friend of NATO or Europe: NATO Parliamentary Assembly chief Perestrello
We start by asking Perestrello about the NATO secretary-general's calls to de-escalate the situation in the Middle East, following Israel 's major strikes against Iran on June 13. " Mark Rutte made a wise appeal to the NATO countries to contribute to the de-escalation of this conflict between Israel and Iran," Perestrello answers, adding that "Iran is not a friendly country of NATO, of Europe. Iran is supporting Russia in its war against Ukraine. It is supplying deadly weapons to Russia. Iran is a threat to the region and to global security, and the development of a nuclear programme in Iran will be an even bigger threat to global security". Perestrello goes on: "This was a unilateral decision by Israel, which probably feels more threatened by the Iranian nuclear programme. There are, as far as we know, ongoing negotiations between Iran and the US regarding that nuclear programme. So those negotiations should continue to create an environment favourable for the de-escalation of this conflict. We don't need another conflict in the Middle East to add to the situation in Gaza and to the war in Ukraine." Asked about the current strains in the transatlantic relationship, Perestrello sounds an optimistic note. "The tariff issue is quite demanding for everybody. But on what matters – NATO and the strategic relationship with the European countries – the position of the US administration has been constant and coherent," he asserts. "They are constantly demanding more investment from us – from the European allies and from Canada. They are demanding a stronger Alliance. And, at the end, we want the same. You cannot rely only on one of the allies. You need a serious contribution from all the allies. So on that we agree." We discuss the defence spending target that is on the table at the upcoming NATO summit in The Hague: 5 percent of GDP. It is "5 percent, or 3.5 percent plus 1.5 percent, because 3.5 is the real hardcore defence spending and the 1.5 is for resilience infrastructure," Perestrello explains. "The credibility of the target will depend on the timeline you put on it. If you go to The Hague and ask for countries to reach 5 percent of spending in 2026, that's not credible. So you need a plan to get there, a reasonable plan, a reasonable deadline, because we all know that it's very expensive to invest in defence, but it's also much more expensive to invest in war. And to avoid war, we need strong defence and strong deterrence." Asked how burden-sharing between NATO and the EU should work, Perestrello says: "I believe that the European Union should not have the ambition to replace NATO. The European Union has its role, and NATO has its own role, too. If each one of them does what it knows best, the result will be astonishing. If NATO concentrates on defence, on deterrence, and if the European Union concentrates on helping the member states to create new instruments, to develop industrial capacities, to make the [Stability and Growth] Pact rules more flexible, then the European Union will be stronger and NATO will be stronger."
