On November 6, 2024, Olivér Várhelyi, the Commissioner-Designate for Health and Animal Welfare, presented his strategic objectives during his Commission hearing.
Várhelyi's main priorities include enhancing Europe’s health resilience, ensuring the availability of critical medicines, and boosting the competitiveness of the EU pharmaceutical sector. Várhelyi also aimed to address health crisis preparedness, tackle non-communicable diseases, support animal health and welfare, and promote sustainable agricultural practices.
President Ursula von der Leyen underscored these priorities, aligning them with broader EU goals. Várhelyi’s proposals included the Critical Medicines Act, a revision of the Medical Devices Regulation, and a new health plan focused on diseases like cardiovascular conditions, diabetes, and obesity. Várhelyi's responses, however, generated mixed reactions. As he faced a second round of questions before his confirmation, he did not commit to updating the Cross-border Healthcare Directive but promised to improve its implementation and support universal access to sexual and reproductive healthcare. On vaccines, he defended Hungary's national emergency authorisations but emphasised the potential for faster EU-wide approvals during future crises through EU pharma legislation and pledged to address vaccine misinformation.
Later, on 20 November 2024, the European Parliament approved Olivér Várhelyi as a Commissioner for the von der Leyen Commission, though his portfolio has undergone significant adjustments. Notably, the responsibilities for the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) and matters related to sexual and reproductive health and rights have been removed from his mandate.
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