European Commission Presents 2021 Work Programme - Implications for Life Sciences
- 20/10/2020
- Articles
The European Commission (the Commission) presented on 19 October 2020 its work programme for 2021 (the Work Programme) which outlines its ambitions for the coming year in a large series of policy areas ranging from the energy and climate remediation-centered European Green Deal over the digital economy to a push for European democracy.
Life sciences and public health feature less prominently in the Commission’s plans than some observers may have expected. This somewhat guarded approach may be due in part to the Commission’s efforts that are already under way in matters such as the Covid-19 pandemic, the Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe which the Commission intends to unveil on 24 November 2020, and Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan which the Commission is scheduled to adopt on 9 December 2020.
The Work Programme announces the following health-related measures for 2021 under the banner of a European Health Union:
- Continuing efforts “to find, finance and secure a safe and accessible vaccine for all”;
- Creating an Agency for Biomedical Advanced Research and Development;
- Establishing a European Health Data Space;
- Assessing Directive 2011/24/EU on the application of patient rights in cross-border healthcare; and
- Revising blood, tissues and cells legislation (Directive 2002/98/EC on safety and quality of human blood and blood components, Directive 2004/23/EC on safety and quality of human tissues and cells and their implementing acts).
The Work Programme, the annex to the Work Programme and two fact sheets are attached.
