The past year has shown how crucial health is for societies and economies to thrive, underscoring the vital importance of strong and performing health systems to keep citizens safe and healthy. The COVID-19 pandemic has put European health systems under huge pressure, exposing their unpreparedness and structural weaknesses. It has also revealed significant differences in national capacities to cope with cross-border health threats and the lack of a common European approach. To address these shortcomings, the European Commission has put forward the first building blocks towards a better prepared European Union in the field of health. At this CHES Annual Lecture, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides highlighted some of the early lessons learned from the pandemic and presented the efforts taken to protect citizen’s health throughout the crisis. Commissioner Kyriakides provided an overview of the Commission’s work to build a strong European Health Union that is better prepared, more coordinated, and more responsive to cross-border health threats and public health emergencies. She also discussed the importance of a holistic and multi-stakeholder approach to health and stressed the need to look at citizens’ good health and well-being as the basis for resilient, equal and sustainable societies.