The Croatian Presidency of the European Union has just begun. The country took Office on 1 January 2020 and will keep it until 30 June 2020. The four priorities of this Presidency, and their meanings, are the following:
- A Europe that develops: by ensuring better conditions and prospects for all European citizens through balanced and sustainable growth
- A Europe that connects: by achieving a European transport area, high-quality and secure data infrastructure, and an integrated energy market.
- A Europe that protects: by guaranteeing the freedom of every citizen as a pillar of a democratic society and internal security.
- An influential Europe: by expanding the EU’s influence, to shape the global order, to eradicate poverty and to stimulate global development.
More information on all these priorities is available online.
The EFN regrets that none of these priorities explicitly relates to healthcare – which differs with the EU citizen’s agenda, where health and social care are high. As the outgoing EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Vytenis Andriukaitis, has said, “health ranks among the top priorities of European citizens”. Nevertheless, these four overarching priorities have enough room for a Health in All Policies approach to be applied across them. The EFN considers that this is key to meet the future challenges of Europe as well as to fully deliver on the European Pillar of Social Rights (more information online).
3 million EU nurses, being the largest healthcare profession of all, should be actively involved in the co-design and development of the future EU policies. They are at the frontline of patient care and are in turn in touch daily with the reality of patients and citizens.