Romana JERKOVIĆ

Policy topics Romana JERKOVIĆ is active on

What Romana JERKOVIĆ has said (19)

• 2026-02-11 “P-000590/2026 Answer given by Mr Várhelyi on behalf of the European Commission 1. In accordance with Article 168(7) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union 1 , Union action must respect the responsibilities of the Member States for the organisation and delivery of their health services and medical care, including for migrants. Under the Healthier Together initiative 2 , the Commission supports Member States and stakeholders in implementing actions addressing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) with funding from the EU4Health programme 3 . The actions include a health inequalities dimension and address the needs of vulnerable populations. 2. The Commission supports Member States in reducing health inequalities through the European Cancer Inequalities Registry 4 , which provides data to guide investments at EU and national level. Under the Safe Hearts Plan 5 , the Commission intends to develop an EU cardiovascular health inequalities dashboard to help identify gaps in access to and availability of care across the EU. 1 http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:12012E/TXT&from=en. 2 https://health.ec.europa.eu/non-communicable-diseases/healthier-together-eu-non-communicable-diseasesinitiative_en. 3 https://health.ec.europa.eu/funding/eu4health-programme-2021-2027-vision-healthier-european-union_en. 4 https://cancer-inequalities.jrc.ec.europa.eu/. 5 https://health.ec.europa.eu/non-communicable-diseases/cardiovascular-health_en.”
  Public and private sectors role in healthcare services · EU competences on health
• 2025-10-15 “E-004037/2025 Answer given by Mr Várhelyi on behalf of the European Commission Under the cancer and health promotion strand of the EU4Health Annual Work Programmes 2021 to 2024 a total of EUR 573.3 million was programmed to address cancer. Direct grants to Member States are the main mechanism to provide funding to entities nominated by national authorities 1 . In addition, public bodies 2 including national authorities are eligible to apply for competitive Action Grants. Annex I shows amounts committed for 16 Joint Actions and 49 Action Grants involving public entities, out of which 10 actions have been completed 3 . To date, Horizon Europe 4 (2021-2027) has supported the implementation of Europe's Beating Cancer Plan (EBCP) 5 with EUR 2.3 billion of EU funding for research and innovation on cancer 6 , of which EUR 2 billion were disbursed to entities at Member State level 7 . As the best proxy for national or regional public authorities, the total cancer-centred funding allocated to public bodies 8 under Horizon Europe amounts to EUR 61 million. The 2021-2027 Erasmus+ programme has funded 88 cancer-related projects with a total value of EUR 12.4 million 9 . No country-specific data are collected on the cancer-related funding by the Erasmus+ implementation monitoring system. Between 2021 and February 2025, 231 project proposals related to cancer research have been signed under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, representing EUR 141 million in funding. The Digital Europe (DEP) Work Programmes 2021-2024 supports the implementation of the EBCP either directly (with a European Cancer Imaging Initiative) or in a horizontal way (through projects on genomics and Virtual Human Twins, which have cancer use cases). Disaggregation of DEP spending data at any kind of national, regional or sectorial level would not be meaningful 10 . 1 In accordance with Article 13 (5) of Regulation (EU) 2021/522 establishing a Programme for the Union’s action in the field of health (‘EU4Health Programme’) for the period 2021-2027. It should be noted that the Programme does not operate on basis of earmarked national allocations. National funding shares indicated by the Commission, therefore strictly reflect work allocation within successful project consortia. 2 Organisations need to declare themselves as a public organisation during the registration process of the Funding and Tenders portal. This declaration is later confirmed by the Commission’s Research Executive Agency. These public bodies include also Research Organisations and Secondary or Higher Education Establishments if they are public bodies. 3 ‘Completed’ are projects which have ended and are paid. 4 https://ec.europa.eu/info/research-and-innovation/funding/funding-opportunities/funding-programmes-andopen-calls/horizon-europe_en. 5 See section ‘9. Funding‘, at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/resource.html?uri=cellar:8dec84ce-66df-11eb-aeb501aa75ed71a1.0002.02/DOC_1&format=PDF. 6 92.5% of these projects are either ongoing or in preparation and 7.5% are closed. 7 See Annex 1 below. 8 Excluding Research Organisations and Secondary or Higher Education Establishments. 9 Data from the Erasmus+ Project Results Platform: https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/projects. 10 The Digital Europe Programme Regulation makes no reference to Member State-specific implementation and disaggregating spending by Member State can provide a misleading picture, as the projects are not designed to deliver national interventions, but rather to produce EU-wide impacts.”
  EU competences on health
• 2025-09-18 “E-003626/2025 Answer given by Ms Zaharieva on behalf of the European Commission The Commission recognises the need to support research on Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), and the Health Cluster Work Programme of Horizon Europe 1 has recently offered funding opportunities 2 . The Commission also supports the new European partnership for Brain Health 3 , which is expected to start in January 2026, and which should also cater to the needs of researchers in the ME/CFS area. Horizon Europe will continue to provide funding opportunities 4 for further research on ME/CFS. The European Health Data Space 5 , which aims to improve health data exchange across the EU and access to those data for research could eventually provide a framework for harmonising data of different disorders, including ME/CFS. Regarding assisting Member States in integrating ME/CFS education into the curricula of medical higher education institutions, the Commission emphasises the importance of quality assurance in education, which aligns with the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG). These standards serve as a robust framework for ensuring that curricula and postgraduate training programs meet high quality benchmarks. While the Commission fully respects academic freedom and institutional autonomy and therefore does not direct or prescribe the content of curricula, it actively encourages Member States and educational institutions to incorporate the ESG into their education systems. The Commission consistently refers to ESG across educational initiatives, reinforcing the principles adopted at the European Higher Education Area Ministerial Conference in 2015 6 , which have now become the standard for educational quality assurance throughout Europe. 1 https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/funding/funding-opportunities/funding-programmes-and-opencalls/horizon-europe_en. 2 Opportunities include a 2025 call topic ‘Tackling high-burden for patients, under-researched medical conditions’ (https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/HORIZON-HLTH2025-01-DISEASE-07), and a similar one in 2024 (https://ec.europa.eu/info/fundingtenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/horizon-hlth-2024-disease-03-14-two-stage). In 2023, projects funded under the topic ‘Relationship between infections and non-communicable diseases’ (https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/HORIZON-HLTH2023-DISEASE-03-07) include one also studying ME/CFS (https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101136582) and another studying diseases caused by the post-acute phase of COVID-19 infection (https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101137196), where the knowledge gained will also benefit the field of ME/CFS. 3 https://www.brainhealth-partnership.eu/. 4 https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/home. 5 https://health.ec.europa.eu/ehealth-digital-health-and-care/european-health-data-space-regulation-ehds_en. 6 https://ehea.info/page-ministerial-conference-yerevan-2015.”
  EU competences on health · Processing of health data
• 2025-04-08 “E-001420/2025 Answer given by Mr Várhelyi on behalf of the European Commission The Commission supports Member States in reducing the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), under the framework of the ‘Healthier Together’ EU NCDs initiative 1 . Financial support from the EU4Health programme 2 is provided for actions under the initiative, which must include a health equity dimension and address different groups’ needs, including women. The Commission also supports the collection and transfer of best and promising practices among Member States via the EU Best Practice Portal on Public Health 3 . The Public Health Expert Group 4 assists the Commission, including on the preparation of policy and legislative initiatives and activities addressing major public health challenges. The proposed reform of the EU pharmaceutical legislation 5 , currently under negotiation, promotes the development of innovative medicines including for unmet medical needs. Measures provide dedicated regulatory support 6 for those medicines as well as targeted incentives. The EU is at the forefront of supporting research and innovation (R&I) to improve and protect health and well-being of citizens. Over EUR 1.3 billion have been invested in more than 700 R&I projects related to women’s health, including gynaecological-related diseases, through the EU’s R&I framework programmes, Horizon 2020 7 and Horizon Europe 8 . Specific funding for R&I into HG under Horizon Europe is not currently planned. Horizon Europe, however, offers a variety of funding opportunities, including calls for collaborative proposals under its cluster 1 ‘Health’ Work Programme 2025. 9 There is more information on opportunities for further research on women’s health and gynaecological diseases 10 . 1 https://health.ec.europa.eu/non-communicable-diseases/healthier-together-eu-non-communicable-diseasesinitiative_en. 2 https://commission.europa.eu/funding-tenders/find-funding/eu-funding-programmes/eu4health_en. 3 https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/dyna/bp-portal/. 4 https://health.ec.europa.eu/non-communicable-diseases/expert-group-public-health_en. 5 COM/2023/193 final and COM/2023/192 final. 6 Regulatory support is provided from the European Medicines Agency. 7 https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/funding/funding-opportunities/funding-programmes-and-opencalls/horizon-2020_en. 8 https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/funding/funding-opportunities/funding-programmes-and-opencalls/horizon-europe_en. 9 This includes the recently opened call topic on tackling high burden for patients and under-researched medical conditions https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topicdetails/HORIZON-HLTH-2025-01-DISEASE-07. 10 It can be found through the EU Funding and Tenders Portal https://ec.europa.eu/info/fundingtenders/opportunities/portal/screen/home.”
  EU competences on health · Pharmaceuticals regulation in EU
• 2025-03-26 “E-001259/2025 Answer given by Mr Várhelyi on behalf of the European Commission In Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan 1 , the Commission indicated that it will ‘explore measures on exposure to ultraviolet radiation, including from sunbeds, which increases the risk of melanoma…’. Sunbeds are already covered by the EU’s Low Voltage Directive 2 , which covers all safety aspects – including health risks – of electrical equipment. Therefore, all sunbeds used for tanning purposes must comply with the standards set in this Directive, which covers cancerrelated risks. The Commission concluded that more information on the effectiveness of preventive and mitigation measures is needed to have a comprehensive understanding of how policy recommendations could lead to a better protection of EU citizens from health risks associated with the use of sunbeds, beyond the protection already provided under the Low Voltage Directive. At this stage, further compelling new evidence including on the effectiveness of actions that would justify further measures is not available. Therefore, it would be premature to put forward a Commission Recommendation on sunbeds at this stage. The fourth edition of the European Code Against Cancer 3 already includes clear guidance on avoiding the use of sunbeds, a recommendation that is being considered to be maintained in the forthcoming fifth edition of the Code. 1 https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/promoting-our-european-waylife/european-health-union/cancer-plan-europe_en. 2 Directive 2014/35/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to the making available on the market of electrical equipment designed for use within certain voltage limits. OJ L 96, 29.3.2014, p. 357–374 3 https://www.cancer.eu/cancer-prevention-the-european-code-against-cancer/.”
  Smoking regulation · EU measures on lifestyle-related behaviours (smoking, drinking, eating, etc.)
• “Mr. Commissioner, Madam Vice President, colleagues, it seems that we are losing the battle against obesity because according to estimates, by 2030, 65% of adult population will live with or with obesity. So this is a silent crisis of public health. Obesity is not a personal choice. This is a chronic non-communicable disease that increases the risk of diabetes, cancer, even mental health issues. Obesity is one of the main triggers of the epidemic of chronic diseases in Europe. Therefore, it is very important to react holistically by investing in the prevention and treatment. We also need to raise medical literacy of our citizens. We also need to bear in mind that this disease has a lot to do with the circumstances in which we live. For example, unhealthy food marketing, high prices of healthy food, which is, um, Not available to many people. This is a public health care issue and we need to treat it as such. Thank you.”
  EU measures on lifestyle-related behaviours (smoking, drinking, eating, etc.)
• “Thank you. Chair. The single market will not be successful if it's only built for large companies and their profits. The European social model is not an obstacle to competitiveness. Social security and the protection of workers are exactly what makes Europe strong. Quality jobs, secure working conditions, fair wages, and a strong social dialogue. This is the basis for a stable growth and a stable economy. Yes, we need to reduce red tape, but not at the expense of our workers. We expect the European Commission to have an ambitious quality Jobs Act that will make it possible to protect workers from AI and to give them more security when it comes to subcontracting chains, as Lita said in his report. The single market must give the people a quality life in the place where they live, and should not force them to leave their country for a better job. Thank you.”
  EU policy on employment subcontracting
• “Colleagues. Commissioner, poverty has many faces, faces of workers who work but still cannot live on what they earn, or pensioners who have worked all their lives and now have to choose between keeping themselves warm or buying medicines or the poverty has the face of a woman with a small pension because of bad, badly paid work, or children who are in poverty because they they were born in the wrong place. Today we have to ask ourselves where are we going to frequently it is said that we are leaving the world to young people, but it seems that this is a world of poverty, that we are leaving them. Now the Parliament has to focus on this problem with clear goals and good strategy, which is adequately financed our responsibilities to leave a Europe of dignity and chances to our children, and not that of fighting for survival.”
  Minimum income harmonisation at EU level
• “Dear colleagues, commissioner, all those urgent procedures and difficult lessons learned from COVID 19 have paid off. Thanks to the European Union's rapid response, the activation of the civil protection mechanism, and the mobilization of stockpiles from our strategic reserve, the passenger were safely evacuated. The truth is that Europe has become better at coordination, preparedness, and at acting together under pressure. But we still depend too heavily on fragmented national systems in moments when speed, clarity, and unity are essential. Citizens expect Europe to protect them not only economically and politically, but also in times of health emergencies. And this means further strengthening the role of the ECDC. It means investing further in joint preparedness, strategic reserves, and cross border crisis response, and it means ensuring that solidarity is permanently embedded into the way the union function. Thank you.”
  Government stockpiling of critical medicines
• “Thank you, chair. And thank you to my shadow rapporteurs for their work so far. But now. But not just them. All other colleagues who reached out and showed interest and support. Uh, there are so many of you. Well, when discussing the report on cardiovascular health, it is important to keep in mind the several very important things. First, that cardiovascular diseases causes more than 1.8 million deaths every year. Second, that around 80% of cardiovascular disease is preventable by effectively addressing risk factors. And third, we cannot ignore that cardiovascular diseases cost us over 282 billion each year. So this is why I place a strong emphasis on prevention in my report, including the determinants of health. And I call for the paradigm shift in how we approach prevention and to stop placing the blame only on individuals. If we continue to spend public money treating diseases, rather than investing in prevention and regulating the environments that cause them, then we risk getting nowhere. Moreover, we need to tax unhealthy products and put an end to aggressive marketing by industries that profit from harmful products. I am not calling for bans, but for fair and transparent business model that do not keep citizens in the dark. Second, we must ensure that every citizen with one or more risk factors has access to regular cardiovascular health checkups by the age of 35. Tobacco and alcohol use. Obesity, hypertension, diabetes, kidney disease, dyslipidemia, coronary disease, atrial fibrillation, heart failure, and structural abnormalities are all potential indicators of cardiovascular disease. Excluding people with these risk factors means missing critical opportunities for early detection and prevention. However, in the same time, we must put we must pay close attention not to over screen and overdiagnose, as that would lead to a low value health care.”
  EU measures on lifestyle-related behaviours (smoking, drinking, eating, etc.)
• “Thank you. Chair. Commissioner, it is easy to agree with you that the European Union cannot deliver on its vital objectives. Is procedures remain unnecessarily slow and complex, but simplifying permitting procedures must never become a shortcut that weakens environmental protection or undermine Workers rights. Europe's strength lies precisely in the fact that economic development goes hand in hand with high social and environmental standards. Cutting red tape must therefore mean better coordination and more efficient administration, not lowering the safeguards that protect workers. Thank you.”
  Overall simplification of regulation in the EU
• “Dear colleagues, in spite of big efforts, cancer is still one of the main health challenges of our times. However, this is not, uh, not surprising because there is no political will at the level of the European Union to face the commercial pressures and the real causes of cancer. While we hesitate, powerful industries like tobacco and alcohol don't lose their time. They use the loopholes in the legislation, and they promote products that directly affect the health of citizens. If we want to respond to these practice, our prevention policies have to be much more ambitious, much more decisive and resilient to these interests. This is the only way that we can decrease cancer and burden of this illness that, uh, that burdens a lot of families. We cannot just contort, uh, health facts. This doesn't lead us anywhere.”
  EU measures on lifestyle-related behaviours (smoking, drinking, eating, etc.)
• “Thank you very much. Every child that ends up in the hands of organized crime represents a failure of our society. And as many of you have said so far, today, they are targeted. They are recruited because they're vulnerable. They can be manipulated because criminals know that they are not covered by the police, and they're not recruited on our streets. That's true. Children are no longer safe anywhere. They are being targeted, and they are used to distribute drugs, to commit frauds, violence, trafficking, and some of them are barely 12 or 13 years old. That's why we need to have stronger cooperation between police, schools, and social services. We need strict rules for online platforms and higher liability of technological companies, but we also need to invest in education, mental health, sports, and opportunities for young people.”
  Safety features & content control for child protection online
• “Thank you chair, and thanks to our guests for their interesting interventions. Um, yeah. As we heard, uh, antimicrobial resistance is not only a scientific challenge, it's a huge economic and social and, of course, political, uh, too. And in my opinion, it is driven by the structural overuse of antibiotics caused by profit driven incentives, weak regulation and of course, because of overstretched health systems. And at the same time, we see that, um, the pipeline for the new antimicrobials is dangerously weak because private investment, uh, has stepped back. So, yes, uh, antimicrobial resistance is a huge public health issue, but I don't think that, uh, the market alone will solve it. Uh, as simple as that. Because as long as the profit depends on the volume of sales, the market will structurally, uh, push misuse rather than, uh, restraint. So, uh, professor, uh, Andre, you was talking about the long term vision, and I agree with you. The question is, given that the private investment has largely withdrawn from the antimicrobial or antibiotic development, what permanent public funding mechanism should the EU put in place to to secure the new antimicrobials? Thank you.”
  Antimicrobial resistance
• “Commissioner, you said many times that the prevention is the key. And as a rapporteur for cardiovascular strategy, I couldn't agree more. But true prevention is not limited only to telling people not to drink, not to smoke, not to eat unhealthy food. So it must mean also creating an environment which do not actively encourage this kind of behaviour. So it is time to move away from blaming individuals and to acknowledge that everyday decisions are heavily shaped by the marketing strategies and business models of industry. It's time to confront commercial determinants of health. If not now than when. And you initially proposed the taxing alcopops, but this disappeared from the plan. Then you also proposed or committed to to taxing of unhealthy food. But this also disappeared from the plan. So my question is why? Why? Commissioner.”
  EU measures on lifestyle-related behaviours (smoking, drinking, eating, etc.)
• “Yes. I'm here. Thank you chair. Thank you all once again for your contribution and for your hard work. Um, on on this report and the amendments, as I said at the beginning of our discussion, um, it was Is expected. You know that there will be some points on which we would not fully agree on. However, today's discussion on today's exchange has been, I would say, very constructive and has helped us better understand each other, each other's perspective. Um, to colleague Paul, I could not agree more. The prevention requires a whole of society approach to colleague firenza. Indeed, we do need to respect the competencies. And regarding taxation, we have great examples in how EU guides the tobacco taxation with respect to to the competences of the Member States. Um colleague I agree we need to protect the young people from the marketing of Harmful industries, housing and. Food and environments play an important role in the cardiovascular health and that's why I dedicated a section in the report to it. Christoph, thank you for your continued support and interest in this file. And my colleague, I agree that both community and hospital pharmacists play an important role too. So, um, finally, I would just make a comment that, uh, this report comes at a very important moment. We have a, I would say once in a decade opportunity to strengthen EU approach to cardiovascular health. And for that reason, I believe it is important that we continue to work in a constructive spirit as we move forward in the process. Some differences remain. Yes, it's inevitable, but I am confident that through continued dialogue, we can reach a strong and balanced outcome, one that reflects the ambition needed to address these major public health challenges. Thank you all, and thank you, chair.”
  EU measures on lifestyle-related behaviours (smoking, drinking, eating, etc.)
• “Dear colleagues, there is no doubt that artificial intelligence is a big opportunity for our industry and our economy, and there is no doubt that it changes the labour market incredibly fast. This is not a question of influence on workers, but about the consequences of this impact. Will artificial intelligence help them in their everyday work or if we will let it to to reduce the work conditions. If companies will realize more profit, then workers should have should benefit from this transition. This should be accompanied by protection of workers rights, social dialogue, and investment in knowledge and skills that will enable people to adapt to changes in the labour market. Europe must show that competition and protection of workers rights must go hand in hand. Thank you.”
  Artificial Intelligence
• “(11:53:50 – 11:54:56): You, chair. The single market will not be successful if it's only built for large companies and their profits. The European social model is not an obstacle to competitiveness. Social security and the protection of workers are exactly what makes Europe strong. Quality jobs, secure working conditions, fair wages, and a strong social dialogue, this is the basis for a stable growth and a stable economy. Yes. We need to reduce red tape, but not at the expense of our workers. We expect the European Commission to have an ambition quality jobs act that will make it possible, to protect, workers from AI and, to give them more security when it comes to, subcontracting chains. As Leta said in his report, the single market must give the people a quality life in the place where they live and should not force them to leave their country for a better, job. Thank you. Much. The next speaker is Akarius Moulacek.”
  EU policy on employment subcontracting
• “Today on before the Mental Health Day we want to send everybody a message that this is a universal human right. Unfortunately for millions it is not attainable because they are trapped in poverty even though they are in employment. How should you feel when a roof over your head becomes luxury and not a right? How not to be anxious but each day is a struggle to survive. Mental health is not just an issue of individuals but rather of policies that ensure well paid work, affordable housing and social security. And therefore we have to admit that strategy commission strategy from 2023 did not achieve results. We need a new comprehensive plan with adequate funding that will put prevention and mental health at the heart of all public policies from education to housing, from work to social security because social security is not a privilege it is a basis for each healthy society. Thank you.”
  EU policy on mental health