The European Respiratory Society (ERS) welcomes the European Commission’s latest EU budget, which includes a proposal for a standalone EU health programme, EU4Health, to strengthen health security in Europe, improve health systems and prepare for future health crises. It will also strengthen and expand European reference networks and fund action on non-communicable diseases.
The proposed EU4Health budget is €9.4 billion for the next seven years (2021–2027), and a further €94.4 billion has also been proposed for the Horizon Europe budget. The funding will reinforce the Horizon programme and fund vital scientific and clinical research, improve population resilience and aid the green and digital transitions across the EU.
ERS supports these proposals and believes the EU4Health programme must equally address communicable respiratory diseases such as COVID-19, as well as non-communicable ones like lung cancer, asthma and others, across the EU.
The budget proposals must still be agreed by EU member states and enacted by the European Parliament, therefore ERS urges policymakers to support measures to expand EU health programmes that protect public health and improve EU preparedness.
Read more about the EU budget proposals and EU4Health programme.