Brussels: A group of 11 health ministers has proposed expanding the scope of new EU defence funds to include critical medicines in an op-ed published on Euronews. Health ministers from Belgium, Czechia, Cyprus, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovenia, and Spain have called for a Critical Medicines Act set to be proposed this week to be integrated within broader EU strategic autonomy and security efforts, putting the measure effectively under the umbrella of defence funding.
According to Emirates News Agency, the ministers emphasized that the Critical Medicines Act must serve as a robust instrument, suggesting that part of its funding should be embedded in broader EU defence spending plans. This would include financial mechanisms in the new defence package, as the ministers elaborated, "After all, without essential medicines, Europe's defence capabilities are compromised."
The initiative aims to tap into the £800 billion the European Commission is expected to mobilise over the next four years through the Rearm Europe plan. This plan, whose main principles were agreed upon by leaders at last week's extraordinary EU summit, envisions increased defence and security spending by EU member states. This would be facilitated by activating a national escape clause within the EU's fiscal rulebook, the Stability and Growth Pact, which allows for higher spending under exceptional circumstances.
An additional £150 billion would come from a new EU defence instrument. This would enable the Commission to borrow from capital markets, issue bonds, and lend to member states. The ministers argue that their proposal aligns with the United States' Defence Production Act, which designates pharmaceutical supply chains as a national security issue. They stressed, "Europe can no longer afford to treat medicine security as a secondary issue. Anything less would be a grave miscalculation-one that could turn our dependence on critical medicines into the Achilles' heel of Europe's security."
The proposal for a Critical Medicines Act is a key health priority for the Commission and aims to address severe shortages of essential medicines, such as antibiotics, insulin, and painkillers, within the EU. It focuses on medicines that are difficult to source or rely on few manufacturers or countries for supply. The ministers warned that interruptions in the supply chain could turn routine surgeries into high-risk procedures and make easily treatable infections potentially fatal.
The proposed mechanism would allow for increased health spending at least at the national level by loosening EU budget rules, enabling higher expenditure without penalties. In practice, this would mean that defence spending-potentially expanded to include critical medicines-of up to 1.5 percent of GDP would be exempt from EU spending limits for four years.