2025 is now coming to an end. Another year has passed, but working as a frontline nurse continues to be extremely challenging and too often ungratifying. Austerity has returned to Europe, and the complex international state of affairs pushed the political narratives away from healthcare, with all the focus now going to defence and industrial development. As such, EFN is calling on the EU and National Governments to recognise more than ever the urgent need to invest in nurses and nursing as a pillar of resilience and preparedness of our societies.
For the EFN, 2025 has been a year of intense lobby work, namely with the European Parliament SANT-EMPL INI Report on “An EU health workforce crisis plan: sustainability of healthcare systems and employment and working conditions in the healthcare sector”, which represents a clear and concrete opportunity to advance key political files for nurses in the European Commission agenda for the next 5 years. Towards this goal, EFN has built and reinforced in 2025 key coalitions with CPME, PGEU, EPSU and EBN, to call for concrete, bold, and focused actions, that lead to frontline impact and change. In particular, Safe Staffing Levels to keep nurses in the profession, based on the EU competences in relation to Occupational Health and Safety (Article 153 TFEU), which are directly connected to safe staffing levels.
The EFN will therefore continue its lobby work towards the EU Institutions in 2026, as we are now in a political window of opportunity that must not be wasted at all costs! The work on the INI Report on the healthcare workforce is still to be finalised, and more INI Reports which are key for nurses, including on Cross-Border Healthcare, are set to come.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your collaboration and continued support to the nurses throughout this year and years to come. We look forward to continuing our alliance in 2026.
We wish you all a peaceful holiday and a successful year ahead. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to All!