Overview
The file concerns the European Parliament's own-initiative report on an EU cardiovascular diseases strategy, under procedure code 2025/2132(INI). The initiative is ongoing, with the Parliament currently awaiting a committee decision. The indicative date for a plenary sitting is 15 June 2026. This analysis is based on the draft report from the Parliament's Committee on Public Health (document PR\1335710EN.docx, SANT-PR-782349), which sets out the proposed parliamentary position.
Legislative timeline
The procedural history began with the referral of the file to the responsible parliamentary committee on 10 July 2025. A committee report was tabled on 19 January 2026, followed by the tabling of committee amendments on 24 February 2026. The next scheduled step is an indicative plenary sitting date set for 15 June 2026.
Institutional handling
The lead committee in the European Parliament is the Committee on Public Health (SANT). The rapporteur is Romana Jerković. On the Commission side, the responsible service is the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (SANTE), under Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi. The relevant Council configuration for this health policy area is the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO).
Stakeholder reactions
There has been significant stakeholder engagement during the preparation of the Parliament's report. A total of 61 meetings were held with Members of the European Parliament, involving 45 distinct organisations. The most active organisations in this outreach were the European Society of Cardiology, the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations, Livsmedelsföretagen, the European Heart Network, and Eli Lilly and Company.
Policy context
The draft EP committee report proposes a comprehensive resolution in response to the European Commission's European Cardiovascular Health Plan (the Safe Hearts Plan). The report calls for a wide range of actions from the EU institutions and member states. It advocates for a cross-cutting 'Health-in-All-Policies' approach, including mandatory health impact assessments for major EU legislation and measures to ensure transparency and protect policy-making from undue corporate influence. A revision of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive to include consumer health protection is proposed.
On prevention, the report emphasises a life-course approach and a shift from acute care, calling for increased health literacy and Council recommendations on school and community health education. It targets commercial determinants of health by proposing to prohibit false or misleading health claims across product categories like tobacco, alcohol, and ultra-processed foods, and to regulate corporate practices that undermine public health.
Specific regulatory proposals include strengthening tobacco control by reducing product affordability and appeal through flavour bans and excise taxes, and fully integrating all non-medicinal nicotine products into the Tobacco Products Directive. For alcohol, it calls for strengthened excise taxation and mandatory health warning labels, including cardiovascular risk warnings. In the area of food and nutrition, the report advocates for binding EU measures such as mandatory front-of-pack nutrition labelling, legally binding reformulation targets, and marketing restrictions for unhealthy foods. It also highlights environmental determinants, making air and noise pollution, chemical exposure, and extreme temperatures core pillars of cardiovascular disease prevention strategy. The report concludes by insisting on clear targets, monitoring, and evaluation, including a Commission evaluation within two years.