Document type: article published by the European Commission
Author: European Commission
Preview: As Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare, Olivér Várhelyi's task is to complete the European Health Union. He will do this by diversifying supply chains, improving access to the most advanced treatments, boosting the competitiveness, resilience and security of health systems and working on strategic inventories. He is also tasked with building on the One Health approach, which recognises the connection between people, animals, plants and their shared environment. He is responsible for:
- proposing a Critical Medicines Act to address the severe shortages of medicines and medical devices and to reduce dependencies
- leading the efforts to conclude work on the reform of EU pharmaceutical legislation
- leading the work on a new European Biotech Act to boost innovation in health technology assessment, clinical trials and more
- ensuring the availability and competitiveness of medical devices
- stepping up the Commission's work on preventive health, including by ensuring the implementation of the European Beating Cancer Plan and by evaluating and revising tobacco legislation
- continuing the work to combat anti-microbial resistance (AMR) and working with Member States to reach the 2030 targets
- preparing a European action plan on the cybersecurity of hospitals and healthcare providers
- completing the European Health Data Space and making proposals to scale up genome sequencing capacities
- leading an EU-wide inquiry on the broader impacts of social media on wellbeing
- modernising the rules on animal welfare, including on the import of exotic animals (extract from the mission letter: "Building upon the existing animal welfare legislation, you will modernise the rules on animal welfare, including on the import of exotic animals, standards while addressing sustainability, ethical, scientific and economic considerations, and citizens expectations. ")
- proposing actions to prevent and reduce food waste
- enforcing food safety standards, including through increased controls on imported products
Read more about the EU's public health and animal welfare policies.
Link to President von der Leyen's mission letter to Olivér Várhelyi