On January 1st 2022, the French Presidency of the Council of the EU kicked off and opened the work of a new Trio, which includes the Czech Republic and Sweden. On the same day, France released its presidency programme and laid out its health priorities for the next 6 months.
The Health Union Package remains of great importance and France will be supporting trialogue discussions on the proposal for a regulation on serious cross-border health threats and the implementation of HERA.
Additionally, France will focus on putting in place an Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) in the field of health, while also strengthening the Union’s industrial health policy and strategic positioning in the sector. The initiative will be promoted in the framework of a ministerial conference on strengthening the sovereignty and competitiveness of the European Union in the field of health.
Moreover, the French presidency aims at starting the negotiations on the European Health Data Space and on the revision of the EU legislation on blood, tissues and cells (BTC) directives as well as working on the implementation of a pandemic treaty.
France will also focus on specific disease areas, which include: 1) Cancer (pushing particularly on prevention); 2) Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR); 3) Mental health (focusing on youth and vulnerable populations’ mental health); and 4) Rare Diseases (preparing for the upcoming review of the framework on orphan and paediatric medicines).
If you would like to know more about the French presidency programme and events, please click here.