Sittings · Document
General budget of the European Union for the financial year 2026 – all sections
Committee on Public Health · Rapporteur: Michalis Hadjipantela
The Committee on Public Health's draft opinion calls for stronger, more resilient public health systems with adequate funding, highlighting priorities like the European Health Data Space and Europe's Beating Cancer Plan.¶ It stresses the need for transparent, result-oriented spending on health priorities, increased EU4Health budget, and more research funding, while welcoming certain increases but noting they are insufficient.¶¶¶
Committee position. The Committee on Public Health proposes amendments to the 2026 EU budget, calling for increased and better-targeted health funding, and for the Budgets Committee to incorporate these views.¶
Key points
- Calls on the Commission, Member States and stakeholders to find practical solutions for resilient public health systems, allocating resources to implement key health legislation.¶
- Highlights the need for funding to enhance the EU's global health role, including cooperation with the WHO.¶
- Welcomes the proposed 17.6% increase in EU4Health budget for 2026 but stresses it is below pre-review MFF levels and insufficient; calls for substantial increase and full execution of budget lines.¶
- Encourages mobilising additional resources through alternative channels like the Flexibility instrument.¶
- Stresses need for transparent, result-oriented spending on cancer, rare diseases, mental health, digital health, AMR, vector-borne diseases, non-communicable diseases, and health workforce digital upskilling.¶
- Calls for budget lines for digital health transformation, including AI, robotics, and telemedicine for remote, island and outermost regions.¶
- Highlights need for dedicated funding for stockpiling, joint procurement, rapid response, crisis preparedness and disease prevention.¶
- Stresses that Horizon Europe health cluster reductions harm research and innovation; calls for revision to maintain EU leadership and competitiveness.¶
- Recalls Draghi Report proposal to double EU research and innovation budget and Letta Report findings on healthcare self-sufficiency.¶
- Recognises that increases for EMA, EU-OSHA and ECDC only cover inflation, not service upgrades; welcomes 8.6% increase for HaDEA.¶
Who is affected
Written by a language model from the full text only; every figure comes from the text and ¶ links to the paragraph it rests on. Check the text itself before relying on it.