Mission Letter for Commissioner-designate for Health and Animal Welfare Várhelyi Shows Ambition despite Criticism

• 19/09/2024
• News

On 17 September 2024 European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen unveiled the college of Commissioners that will form the new European Commission during the period 2024-2029 provided the European Parliament expresses no veto against a given candidate. Olivér Várhelyi is the Commissioner-designate for Health and Animal Welfare. For various reasons, the designation of Mr. Várhelyi is controversial and the outcome of his confirmation hearing in the European Parliament hangs in the balance.
 
Still, whoever ends up becoming the new Commissioner responsible for health will have his or her work cut out. This is apparent from the mission letter which Ms. von der Leyen sent to Mr. Várhelyi as part of the designation process (see, attachment). The new health Commissioner will be supposed to: 

• propose a Critical Medicines Act to reduce shortages of medicines and medical devices and reduce dependencies from non-EU sources;
• conclude work on the pharmaceutical package by supporting the European Parliament and the Council to agree on a common Regulation and Directive;
• conceive of a new European Biotech Act;
• ensure the availability and competitiveness of medical devices;
• focus on preventive health;
• implement a European Beating Cancer Plan and use that plan as a blueprint for work in other areas, including mental health; cardiovascular diseases; degenerative illnesses; and autism;
• conclude work on anti-microbial resistance as one of the major health threats;
• investigate the impact of social media on wellbeing;
• prepare a plan to ensure the cybersecurity of hospitals and healthcare providers; and
• complete work on the European Health Data Space. 

The full list of priority action points features on pages 5 and 6 of the mission letter. Mr. Várhelyi will report to Executive Vice-President-designate for a clean, just and competitive transition, Teresa Ribera Rodríguez, and Executive Vice-President-designate for people, skills and preparedness, Roxana Mînzatu.

Despite, or because of, this broad portfolio of competencies, the new health Commissioner will not be alone in addressing health issues. The Commissioner-designate responsible for preparedness and crisis management, Hadja Lahbib, is to take charge of crisis management and civil preparedness. This implies developing a “new strategy to support medical countermeasures against public health threats, to harness tools such as joint procurement, stockpiling or using innovative financial instruments to support the development of medical countermeasures from research to manufacturing” (see, attached mission letter, at p. 6). This suggests Ms. Habib will also bear responsibility for the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA).

Additional health competencies fall under the purview of other commissioners: the Executive Vice-President designate for prosperity and industrial strategy, Stéphane Séjourné, and the incoming commissioner for startups, research and innovation, Ekaterina Zaharieva, will both contribute to the European Biotech Act and the European Strategy on Life Sciences. Furthermore, Ms. Mînzatu will support the mental health of children and young people and improve the EU’s approach to occupational health and safety.