The persistence of the pandemic threat at the start of the new school year is once again placing European health systems under strain. Never again should healthcare workers be put in the position to choose which patients receive life-saving equipment. The COVID-19 crisis illustrates the need to strengthen coordination and cooperation between different national health systems. This is the whole point of the report by Nicolae ŞTEFĂNUȚĂ (Renew, Romania), adopted today by the Parliamentary Budget Committee (BUDG), which supports the action program for Health proposed by the European Commission by suggesting more sustainable funding than that decided by the European Council in its agreement on the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework.
Nicolae Ştefănuță said: “You don't do as much with a billion as you do with ten, it's a simple fact. The EU cannot achieve the original goals of EU4Health after the massive Council cuts. One can only wonder about the feasibility of the ambitions set by the Commission and amended by the European Parliament with a final budget of 1.7 billion euros. Ambitions must be reviewed and I will fight tooth and nail to increase the budget allocation for health policy. We cannot afford to weaken EU4Health in the midst of a pandemic, when support and coordination to strengthen the resilience of our health systems is so needed. Our citizens deserve better!”
Ştefănuță's opinion will be integrated in the final report of ENVI Committee on the Union's action program in the field of health for the period 2021-2027 that will be voted in the next plenary.