Five years ago this month, governments across Europe implemented unprecedented lockdowns in response to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. It brought home to us the risks we face and the costs of complacency and a lack of preparedness. Above all, the global pandemic exposed the EU to unwanted dependencies and vulnerabilities in the EU’s pharmaceutical supply chains.
Though the sense of urgency around health policies faded once the worst of the pandemic was over, the current shocks to international trade and multilateralism should lead the EU to continue prioritising health security.
The nexus between industrial and pharmaceutical policies has always been a critical weakness for Europe. As health ministers from 11 member states wrote last week, Europe’s dangerous medicine dependency is the Achilles heel of its defence strategy. The recently published Critical Medicines Act is a step in the right direction, but the manufacturing of medicines is only one part of the pharmaceutical value chain.
Investing in biotech and the next generation of innovative medicines is equally important to address the widening innovation gap between the EU and other global economies. A lot is at stake in the European Commission’s upcoming Biotech Act and Life Sciences Strategy, expected later this year.
The EU’s prosperity depends on its competitiveness and ability to defend itself against foreign actors – both requiring a productive, well-skilled and healthy workforce. The demographic transition makes this even more urgent, as between now and 2040 the EU’s workforce is set to lose 2 million people a year.
The lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic should be at the forefront of our minds in the current geopolitical context. Arguably, the proposed increase in defence spending should allow for investment in critical health infrastructure. Five years after the global pandemic first transformed our lives, it would be a mistake to see health policies as separate from the EU’s competition agenda and security paradigm.
Elizabeth Kuiper is Associate Director and Head of the Social Europe and Well-being Programme
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