Manifesto for a European Health Union

The Manifesto invites the people of Europe to engage in building a health policy that contributes to the long-term sustainable development of the European Union. The Manifesto sets out a vision of a European Health Union (with goals, policies, measures, principles) developed by the signatories of the Manifesto. Document is signed by a number prominent EU politicians (including Jean-Claude Juncker, Klaus Hänsch, Violeta Bulc, etc.), health advocates, researchers and active health champions. They are calling for provisions for a European Health Union to be incorporated in a revised Treaty on EU.

A European Health Union will:

1. Strive for the health and wellbeing of all Europeans, with no one left behind;
2. Strengthen solidarity within and among Member States, based on the principle of progressive universalism, providing support, including universal health coverage, for all, but with particular attention to the needs of those who are disadvantaged;
3. Ensure environmental sustainability, by adopting the European Green Deal^[1] and prioritising measures to promote One Health, the concept that links our health with that of the animals and plants with which we share this planet;
4. Provide security for all Europeans, protecting them from the major threats to health and from the vulnerability that is created by living a precarious existence;
5. Enable everyone’s voice to be heard, so that policies that affect their health are created with them and not for them.

Policies and other measures

These goals can be achieved in a number of ways. To name a few:

1. The status of health policy in the European Treaties will be strengthened, with provisions for a European Health Union incorporated into Articles 2 and 3 of a revised Treaty on the Functioning European Union, giving the European Union explicit competence to take action on health policy;
2. The voice of the citizens of Europe, expressed through their representatives in the European Parliament, will be heard more strongly;
3. Recognising the benefits of European collaboration on rare diseases, measures to support those who are affected by them will be strengthened.

For more on the manifesto and to sign it follow the link: https://europeanhealthunion.eu