This week the Dutch have assumed the Presidency of the Council of the EU. They will hold this role for the next 6 months. In addition to chairing the meetings of the Council of the EU, they will be responsible for ensuring that Member States work in harmony, negotiating compromises when necessary, and at all times acting in the interest of the EU as a whole.
The Dutch Presidency is the first term of the current Presidency trio, with Slovakian and Maltese Presidencies to follow. These three Member States will work together until June 2017 to implement their 18-month work programme.
The Dutch Presidency has announced three main priorities for their term. Their aim is to develop a European Union that:
- focuses on the essentials, aiming for lasting improvements in the quality of legislation and making it simpler and more workable;
- creates growth and jobs through innovation, by, for example, seeking to remove obstacles to innovation and strengthen the digital economy; and
- actively involves citizens and civil society organisations in policymaking.
In terms of health policy specifically, in the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council, the Netherlands will seek further European measures in the fight against antimicrobial resistance – a hot topic in 2015. They also want to develop an European agenda for the further improvement of market access rules for medicines in order to ensure that patients can benefit from new, innovative, affordable, safe medicines in the future.
As part of the Environment Council, the Netherlands Presidency also includes health as one of its three priorities; namely “healthy people in a healthy environment”. Here, the Presidency will specifically address air pollution, drinking water, nanomaterials, endocrine disruptors and microplastics.
In the longer term, the Presidency trio has announced that it will take forward discussions on ways to improve the health status of the EU population, by fighting non-communicable diseases, the availability of and access to innovative and affordable medicines for patients as well as cooperation between Member States' health systems.
All in all, there is nothing earth-shattering in the Dutch EU priorities concerning health. That being said, the Dutch are taking a pragmatic approach that focuses on innovation and I like this. In a way I hope that the Dutch Presidency will instil in health policy a bit of innovative and forward thinking reminiscent of their former Commissioner Neelie Kroes who brought us the EU’s Digital Agenda.