Activities of Cindy FRANSSEN related to 2020/0102(COD)
Plenary speeches (1)
Programme for the Union's action in the field of health for the period 2021-2027 (“EU4Health Programme”) (debate)
Amendments (17)
Amendment 116 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 3
Recital 3
(3) Article 168 TFEU provides that the Union is to complement and support national health policies, encourage cooperation between Member States, particularly in border regions, and promote the coordination between their programmes, in full respect of the responsibilities of the Member States for the definition of their health policies and the organisation and delivery of health services and medical care.
Amendment 134 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 6
Recital 6
(6) While Member States are responsible for their health policies, they are expected to protect public health in a spirit of European solidarity8 . Despite the reintroduction of internal borders at a time where solidarity between Member States was the most needed, several healthcare projects between cross-border regions, funded by Interreg programmes, have contributed to the fight against the COVID-19 crisis. Experience from the ongoing COVID-19 crisis has demonstrated that there is a need for a further firm action at Union level to support cooperation and coordination among the Member States as well as between neighbouring border regions in order to improve the prevention and control of the spread of severe human diseases across borders, to combat other serious cross- border threats to health and to safeguard the health and well-being of people in the Union. __________________ 8 Communication to the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council, the European Central Bank, the European Investment Bank and the Eurogroup on coordinated economic response to the COVID-19 outbreak, COM(2020)112 final of 13.03.220.
Amendment 157 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 7
Recital 7
(7) It is therefore appropriate to establish a new Programme for the Union's action in the field of health, called EU4Health Programme ('the Programme') for the period 2021 -2027. In line with the goals of the Union action and its competences in the area of public health the Programme should place emphasis on actions in relation to which there are advantages and efficiency gains from collaboration andt Union level as well as from cross-border cooperation at Unregional level and actions with an impact on the internal market.
Amendment 171 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 10
Recital 10
(10) Due to the serious nature of cross- border health threats, the Programme should support coordinated public health measures at Union level as well as at regional level between regions which share a common border to address different aspects of such threats. With a view to strengthen the capability in the Union to prepare for, respond to and manage health crisis the Programme should provide support to the actions taken in the framework of the mechanisms and structures established under Decision No 1082/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council10 and other relevant mechanisms and structures established at Union level. This could include strategic stockpiling of essential medical supplies or capacity building in crisis response, preventive measures related to vaccination and immunisation, strengthened surveillance programmes. In this context the Programme should foster Union-wide and cross-sectoral crisis prevention, preparedness, surveillance, management and response capacity of actors at the Union, national, regional and local level, including contingency planning and preparedness exercises, in keeping with the “One Health” approach. It should facilitate the setting up of an integrated cross-cutting risk communication framework working in all phases of a health crisis - prevention, preparedness and response. __________________ 10Decision No 1082/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2013 on serious cross-border threats to health and repealing Decision No 2119/98/EC (OJ L 293, 5.11.2013, p. 1).
Amendment 206 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 14
Recital 14
(14) In order to minimise the public health consequences of serious cross- border threats to health it should be possible for actions supported under the Programme to cover coordination of the activities which strengthen the interoperability and coherence of Member States’ health-systems through benchmarking, cooperation and exchange of best practices and ensure their capability to respond to health emergencies, that includes contingency planning, preparedness exercises and the upskilling of health care and public health staff and the establishment of mechanisms for the efficient monitoring and needs-driven distribution or allocation of goods and services needed in time of crisis, which would be particularly beneficial in a cross-border context.
Amendment 326 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 20
Recital 20
(20) The Programme will work in synergy and complementarity with other EU policies, programmes and funds such as actions implemented under the Digital Europe Programme, Horizon Europe, rescEU reserve under the Union Civil Protection Mechanism, Emergency Support Instrument, European Social Fund+ (ESF+, including as regards synergies on better protecting the health and safety of millions of workers in the EU), including the Employment and Social Innovation Strand (EaSI), the InvestEU fund, Single Market Programme, European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) including Interreg, Recovery and Resilience Facility including the Reform Delivery Tool, Erasmus, European Solidarity Corps, Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE), and EU external action instruments, such as the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument and the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance III. Where appropriate, common rules will be established in view of ensuring consistency and complementarity between funds, while making sure that specificities of these policies are respected, and in view of aligning with the strategic requirements of these policies, programmes and funds, such as the enabling conditions under ERDF and ESF+.
Amendment 333 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 21
Recital 21
(21) In accordance with Article 114 TFEU, a high level of health protection should be ensured in the legislation adopted by the Union for the establishment and the functioning of the internal market. On the basis of Article 114 TFEU and point (c) of Article 168(4) TFEU, a considerable body of Union acquis was developed which guarantees the high standards of quality and safety for medicinal products and medical devices. Given the rising healthcare demand, Member States’ healthcare systems face challenges in the availability and affordability of medicines and medical devices. To ensure a better public health protection as well as the safety and empowerment of patients in the Union, it is essential that patients and health systems have access to high quality healthcare productsservices and products, including in a cross-border context, and can fully benefit from them.
Amendment 384 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 26
Recital 26
(26) Cross-border cooperation in the provision of healthcare to patients moving between Member States or living in border regions, collaboration on health technology assessments (HTA), and European Reference Networks (ERNs) are examples of areas where integrated work among Member States has shown to have strong added value and great potential to increase the efficiency of health systems and thus health in general. The Programme should therefore support activities to enable such integrated and coordinated work, which also serves to foster the implementation of high-impact practices that are aimed at distributing in the most effective way the available resources to the concerned population and areas so as to maximise their impact.
Amendment 404 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 30
Recital 30
(30) In order to optimise the added value and impact from investments funded wholly or in part through the budget of the Union, synergies should be sought in particular between the Programme for the Union's action in the field of health and other Union programmes, including those under shared-management, notably the Interreg programme which already addresses cross-border cooperation in the field of health and helps to facilitate the cross-border mobility of patients and health professionals, and to develop access to high quality healthcare through the use of common equipment, shared services and joint facilities in cross-border areas. To maximise those synergies, key enabling mechanisms should be ensured, including cumulative funding in an action from the Programme for the Union's action in the field of health and another Union programme, as long as such cumulative funding does not exceed the total eligible costs of the action. For that purpose, this Regulation should set out appropriate rules, in particular on the possibility to declare the same cost or expenditure on a pro-rata basis to Programme for the Union's action in the field of health and another Union programme.
Amendment 408 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 31
Recital 31
(31) Given the specific nature of the objectives and actions covered by the Programme, the respective competent authorities of the Member States and, in the cross-border context, the Interreg programmes are best placed in some cases to implement the related activities. Those authorities and Interreg programmes, designated by the Member States themselves, should therefore be considered to be identified beneficiaries for the purpose of Article 195 of the Financial Regulation and the grants be awarded to such authorities without prior publication of calls for proposals.
Amendment 411 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 33
Recital 33
(33) Given the common agreed values of solidarity towards accessible, equitable and universal coverage of quality health services, including in a cross-border context, as a basis for the Union’s policies in this area and that the Union has a central role to play in accelerating progress on global health challenges19 , the Programme should support the Union’s contribution to international and global health initiatives with a view to improve health, address inequalities and increase protection against global health threats. __________________ 19Council conclusions on the EU role in Global Health, 3011th Foreign Affairs Council meeting, Brussels, 10 May 2010.
Amendment 419 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 42
Recital 42
(42) The implementation of the Programme should be such that the responsibilities of the Member States, for the definition of their health policy and for the organisation and delivery of health services and medical care, are respected. However, with a view to improving the complementarity of their health services and their conditions of mobility for patients and healthcare professionals in cross-border areas.
Amendment 421 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 43
Recital 43
(43) Given the nature and potential scale of cross-border threats to human health, the objective of protecting people in the Union from such threats and to increase crisis prevention and preparedness cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States acting alone. In accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on the European Union, action at Union level canshould also be taken to support Member States’ efforts in the pursuit of a high level of protection of public health, to improve the availability and affordability in the Union of medicines, medical devices and other crisis relevant products and services, to support innovation and to support integrated and coordinated work and implementation of best practices among Member States and among their regions, and to address inequalities in access to health throughout the EU in a manner that creates efficiency gains and value-added impacts that could not be generated by action taken at national level while respecting the Member States’ competence and responsibility in the areas covered by the Programme. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve those objectives.
Amendment 479 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 3
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 3
(3) strengthen health systems and the healthcare workforce, including by digital transformation and by increased integrated and coordinated work among the Member States at national, regional and local level, sustained implementation of best practice and data sharing, to increase the general level of public health.
Amendment 593 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point 9
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point 9
(9) support integrated work among Member States as well as between neighbouring border regions, and in particular their health systems, including the implementation of high-impact prevention practices, and scaling up networking through the European Reference Networks and other transnational networks;
Amendment 630 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 14 – paragraph 5
Article 14 – paragraph 5
5. Under the Programme, direct grants may be awarded without a call for proposals to fund actions having a clear Union added value co-financed by the local, regional and national competent authorities that are responsible for health in the Member States or in the third countries associated to the Programme, relevant international health organisations or by Interreg programmes, public sector bodies and non-governmental bodies, acting individually or as a network, mandated by those competent authorities.
Amendment 631 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 14 – paragraph 6
Article 14 – paragraph 6
6. Under the Programme, direct grants may be awarded without a call for proposals to European Reference Networks. Direct grants may also be awarded to other transnational networks or Interreg programmes set out in accordance with EU rules.