Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Mr Várhelyi, has declined to intervene in the closure of a chronic dialysis unit in Katerini, northern Greece, which forces 96 kidney patients to travel hundreds of kilometres weekly for treatment. In a written answer on 3 July 2026, Várhelyi stressed that under Article 168(7) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, member states are solely responsible for organising and delivering health services, including the location of facilities and patient transport. The answer, responding to a question from S&D MEP Sakis Arnaoutoglou, reaffirms the Commission's limited role in national healthcare decisions, disappointing patients and advocates who had hoped for EU pressure on Greek authorities.
Várhelyi acknowledged that safe and equitable access to treatment is a key priority for the Commission, but he offered no concrete measures to address the specific situation in Pieria. Instead, he pointed to existing EU tools that monitor health systems, such as the State of Health in the EU cycle and the European Semester, noting that Greece received recommendations in 2020, 2022, and 2023 to ensure adequate and equal access to healthcare. He also highlighted recent EU legislative achievements—the new Pharmaceutical Regulation, on which co-legislators reached political agreement in December 2025, and the Critical Medicines Act, agreed in May 2026—as efforts to improve access to medicines across the EU. However, these initiatives do not directly address the closure of dialysis units or patient travel burdens.
The answer references Article 35 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Principle 16 of the European Pillar of Social Rights, but reiterates that these principles do not override national competence. Várhelyi concluded by listing EU funding instruments—EU4Health, cohesion policy funds, and the Recovery and Resilience Facility—that can support member states in strengthening health systems through knowledge sharing and technical assistance. The response signals that the Commission will not take direct action on the Katerini case, leaving the matter entirely in Greek hands. Institutional follow-up is unlikely unless the European Parliament or a member state raises the issue further, but no timeline for such action was provided.