European Union

Wildfires are once again raging in the south of Europe. With rising temperatures and global warming, wildfires have become a prominent issue for Europe, particularly in the summer, showing that the need for effective prevention and management is critical. 

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Monday (29 July) his country would halt diesel supplies to Ukraine if Kyiv fails to restore oil flows from Russian group Lukoil through its territory.

Thousands rallied in towns across Serbia on Monday (29 July) against the approval of a controversial lithium mine that had been shuttered for two years following mass protests.

Hungary's foreign minister on Monday (29 July) accused his Polish counterpart of lying, as simmering tensions concerning Warsaw and Budapest's differences over Ukraine erupted into a diplomatic spat.

In a significant move towards digital transformation, Ireland’s Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, has unveiled the Health Information Bill 2024. This landmark legislation, once enacted, will lay the legal groundwork for digital health records in Ireland.

Ireland’s pharmaceutical industry is advocating for a new medicines funding boost in the government's ‘Budget 2025’. The IPHA says a budget bump would allow for the reimbursement of the 36 new medicines which they intend to apply for in 2025.

EUHealthGov held its fourth Practitioner Perspective on 11th July 2024. We were delighted to host Gloria Ghéquière, Advisor in the Cabinet of the Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Social Affairs and Public Health, Frank Vandenbroucke, to discuss the work done on health by the Belgian Presidency of the European Council between January and June 2024.

This period has continued to see a wide range of pressures on healthcare systems beyond the perennial challenge of ageing populations and the implications this has for costs and workforce. For example, climate change not only increases the risk of new pandemics, but also raises questions about the location of hospitals and drinking water installations in flood areas. A further consideration is market challenges as illustrated by increased medicine shortages of cheap basic medicines, as well as increasing costs for new innovative treatments. Against this backdrop what becomes clear is that there is a role for the EU to play with regard to health. The Belgian presidency drew overall on a range of policy proposals to develop further the European Health Union and to help keep health high on the agenda following the European Parliament elections and anticipating a new Commission mandate.

A key focus of the Belgian presidency’s work has been medicine shortages, which received most support across the Member States. This is a structural problem, with a twentyfold increase in medicine shortages seen between 2000 and 2018. Whereas Europe produced just over half (53%) of global active pharmaceutical ingredients in 2000, today production is found in Asia which is explained by an economic model of extreme economic cost-cutting and increased risk. Belgium has been instrumental in launching the idea of a Critical Medicines Act, which would allow investment in critical production in Europe, but also to establish international partnerships to stabilise global supply and to diversify supply chains.  Belgium also connected this idea with the solidarity mechanism at EU level which ensures that no patient in the EU should die or experience extreme consequences as a result of medicine shortages.

The Belgian presidency also promoted prevention of non-communicable diseases, by building on pre-existing EU initiatives such as the Beating Cancer Plan, and has recently welcomed the Commission’s recommendations for a Smoke Free Environment. This leads to a range of considerations regarding challenges of implementation, not only in connection with political will, but also how preventive actions may be located in the portfolios of different Directorates-General, and questions of how these do (or do not) work together.

Further topics covered by the Belgian presidency included work on a clinical trial coordination mechanism to be able to carry out publicly and privately-funded clinical trials on a large scale across the EU in a much more efficient way, and finalising negotiations on the European Health Data Space.

More about the Belgian presidency’s work can be found in the Council’s recommendations from June 2024 available here.

The post Summary: Health and the Belgian Presidency: Practitioner Perspective with Gloria Ghéquière appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

The Commission is pushing for better enforcement tools for the Digital Services Act, the EU's landmark content moderation law, in two documents, including provisions on protection of minors, regulation of influencers, and addictive design.

The EU’s Medicines Agency (EMA) rejects market authorisation for early intervention Alzheimer’s treatment Leqembi (lecanemab) due to concerns over side-effects.

The Committee on Foreign Affairs elected it's Bureau on 23 July 2024 during its constitutive meeting. David McAllister (EPP, Germany) was re-elected Chair of the Committee. He is joined in the Bureau by Hana Jalloul Muro (S&D, Spain) as First Vice-Chair, Urmas Paet (Renew, Estonia) as Second Vice-Chair, Alberico Gambino (ECR, Italy) as Third Vice-Chair and Ioan-Rareş Bogdan (EPP, Romania) as Fourth Vice-Chair (elected in absentia).
Taking the floor following his election, David McAllister stressed the need for AFET to start its work as quickly as possible in this time of high geopolitical tensions: "The European Union needs to maintain a strong transatlantic relationship, strengthen the European pillar within NATO, continue its support of Ukraine in its fight against the Russian war of aggression and contain Chinese influence. We need to put continued emphasis on the necessity of European enlargement. The Foreign Affairs Committee has an important role to play in all of those tasks. I will continue to work hard to ensure that all Members have the opportunity to contribute to this endeavour".
Press release
Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP

Measures the new EU Commission will set out for insurers in the second half of the year risk thwarting policymakers’ efforts to boost Europe’s competitiveness and private funding capacity if not re-calibrated differently, the sector has warned.

Regions cannot authorise the hunting of wolves if their population numbers are still low at the national level, as is the case in Spain's Castilla Leon region, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) said on Monday (29 July), weeks after upholding strict protection measures in Austria.

France suspects members of far-left groups were behind the sabotage of the country's high-speed rail network last week just as the Olympic Games were about to begin, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Monday (29 July).

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his opposition rival Edmundo Gonzalez were each claiming victory in a presidential election on Monday morning (29 July), after a vote marked by accusations of underhand tactics and isolated incidents of violence.

Perle
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
Authorisation to reside on the territory of a Member State for the purposes of studies: a Member State may reject an abusive application for authorisation, even if it has not correctly transposed the directive that provides for that option

Banco BPN v BIC Português and Others
Competition
The exchange of information over a period of more than ten years between 14 credit institutions in Portugal could constitute a restriction of competition by object

Ryanair and Laudamotion v Commission
State aid
COVID-19: the Court of Justice confirms the lawfulness of the subordinated loan of €150 million granted by Austria to Austrian Airlines in the summer of 2020

FTI Touristik
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
A consumer having booked a trip abroad may sue the organiser before the court of the place of his or her domicile

HDI Global
Approximation of laws
Covid-19: the security against a package travel organiser’s insolvency also applies where the traveller has cancelled the trip, prior to the insolvency, due to unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances

Belgian Association of Tax Lawyers and Others
Taxation
Combating aggressive tax planning: the Court upholds the validity of various provisions of the EU directive