[FR] A new European Health Agency? For what?

In her State of the Union address on 16 September 2020 in Strasbourg, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called on Europe to build a European Health Union (1). The Covid-19 epidemic has indeed revealed significant inconsistencies and structural weaknesses and demonstrated the need to strengthen cooperation and coordination at EU level, in particular to better prepare for and respond to health emergencies.

An important first step was taken a few weeks later. On 11 November, the European Commission adopted a communication in which it put forward several proposals to ‘strengthen the EU’s resilience to cross-border health threats’ (2). It recommends strengthening a number of structures and mechanisms in order to improve the level of protection, prevention, preparedness and response to risks to human health at EU level (3).

It will also propose, by the end of 2021, the creation of an ‘EU Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority’. Such a project, inspired by the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), could represent real added value compared to what already exists, but raises a number of questions regarding its structure, scope and funding.