On 3 June 2026, the European Parliament's SANT committee held a structured dialogue with EU Health Commissioner Hadja Lahbib on preparedness, women's health, and disinformation, followed by an 'Excellence in Health Science' exchange on skin diseases and sunbed risks. Lahbib framed preparedness as a security issue tied to the next EU budget, stockpiling, and civil protection, arguing that Ebola and hantavirus posed very low risk to Europe and that border closures were unjustified. She defended mainstreaming women's health through existing strategies rather than a dedicated one, and opened EU funding for abortion access under national competence.
MEPs diverged on several points. Sirpa Pietikäinen (EPP) called for a One Health resilience analysis. Christophe Clergeau (S&D) and Catarina Martins (The Left) pushed for a specific women's health strategy. Vlad Vasile-Voiculescu (Renew) highlighted disinformation in Romania. Stine Bosse (Renew) questioned funding adequacy. Margarita De La Pisa Carrión (PfE) linked strained national systems to open borders.
On skin diseases, experts Aleksandra Lesiak and Alexander Stratigos urged EU action, citing 185 million affected Europeans and overwhelming evidence against sunbeds as class 1 carcinogens. Stratigos criticized fragmented regulation—only 18 member states ban sunbeds for minors—and called for resumed Commission work, bans for minors, and prevention campaigns.
Consensus emerged on the need for cross-border coordination, stronger action on women's health, combating disinformation, and treating skin diseases as serious public health issues. Next steps include continued committee scrutiny and a later exchange on Ebola.
The debate exposed a cleavage between those advocating a dedicated women's health strategy (S&D, The Left) and the Commission's preference for mainstreaming, which could delay targeted funding. On sunbeds, stronger EU regulation would benefit public health and dermatology sectors but impose compliance costs on tanning salons and equipment manufacturers. The preparedness framing as a security issue may boost funding for stockpiling and civil protection, benefiting pharmaceutical logistics firms, while border closure opposition reassures travel and tourism stakeholders. Overall, the session highlighted trade-offs between targeted vs. integrated health policies and between precautionary regulation and industry interests.