The next European elections will take place between the 6th and 9th of June 2024. These elections will be decisive for the EU in addressing public health challenges, as well as climate change and other dire issues in a permacrisis context.
Ahead of the elections, EPHA is publishing today the longer version of its manifesto “Strengthening public health across the European Union – A closer look at EPHA’s priorities ahead of the European elections”. This document follows up on EPHA’s key priorities published in June 2023.
At the core of EPHA’s manifesto is a clear call for health to be at the forefront of the next European Parliament and European Commission’s political agendas. To make sure that it is the case, EPHA is asking for a strong commitment from the institutions, with calls for a dedicated European Commission Vice-President on Public Health, Social Rights and Wellbeing, a more powerful SANT Committee in the European Parliament and an ambitious budget for strong health promotion and disease prevention policies. Health equity should be central, silos should be broken down, and public health should be considered in all policies, and thought together with environmental and climate change considerations. This is essential to address all the determinants of health, and challenges such as non-communicable diseases and anti-microbial resistance. Finally, strong support should be provided to civil society to play their part, with a Civil Society Strategy.
By publishing this manifesto, EPHA seeks to inform the elections debate with evidence-based policies and proposals, and make sure that the next mandate of the European Commission and European Parliament delivers on what is needed for public health and lays the grounds for the long-term perspective. It is also essential that initiatives started in the 2019-2024 mandate, that are aimed at ensuring positive public health, environment and climate outcomes are delivered, such as the Green Deal.
Through this newsletter, we also invite you to discover the activities of some of our members regarding the upcoming European elections.
