home overview funding

Health Programme

Target group

SMEs, Large Enterprises, Government, Cities, Communities & NGOs, Knowledge Centers

Type of funding

Grant

Project type

Research, Innovation

Area

Funding Researchers, Health, Innovation, International Cooperation, Partnerships with Industry & MS, Social Sciences and Humanities

Info last updated 6 days ago

Summary

The main European Commission instrument to implement the EU health strategy

Budget

With a €5.3 billion budget during the 2021-27 period, the EU4Health programme is an unparalleled EU financial support in the health area

Official information source

https://ec.europa.eu/health/policies/overview_en

Description

EU Health Programme

Page contents

EU countries hold primary responsibility for organising and delivering health services and medical care. EU health policy therefore serves to complement national policies, to ensure health protection in all EU policies and to work towards a stronger Health Union.

EU policies and actions in public health aim to

protect and improve the health of EU citizens
support the modernisation and digitalisation of health systems and infrastructure
improve the resilience of Europe's health systems
equip EU countries to better prevent and address future pandemics

Strategic health issues are discussed by representatives of national authorities and the European Commission in a senior-level working group on public health. EU institutions, countries, regional and local authorities, and other interest groups contribute to the implementation of the EU's health strategy and annual work programmes.

European Commission's role

The European Commission's Directorate for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE) supports the efforts of EU countries to protect and improve the health of their citizens and to ensure the accessibility, effectiveness and resilience of their health systems. This is done through various means, including by

proposing legislation
providing financial support
coordinating and facilitating the exchange of best practices between EU countries and health experts
health promotion activities

Legislation

The EU can adopt health legislation under the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union: Article 168 (protection of public health), Article 114 (single market) and Article 153 (social policy). Areas where the EU has adopted legislation include

The Council of the EU can also address recommendations on public health to EU countries.

Investing in health

The EU4Health programme provides funding to improve health in the Union, tackle cross-border health threats, improve the availability and affordability of medicinal products, medical devices and crisis-relevant products and increase health systems’ resilience.

Other EU programmes also invest in healthcare systems, health research, infrastructure or wider health-related aspects, in particular

Horizon Europe health cluster supports research and innovation for high-quality accessible healthcare, a resilient EU prepared for emerging threats, and high quality digital services for all
EU cohesion funds invest in health in EU countries and regions
Resilience and recovery facility

Priorities for 2021-2027

The European Health Union will focus on both urgent and long-term health priorities, from the response to the COVID-19 crisis and resilience to cross-border health threats, to Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, the Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe and digital health.

The EU will continue to pursue international cooperation on global health threats and challenges such as antimicrobial-resistant infections and vaccination.

Related information

Latest updates

News announcement
11 April 2025

Agenda - EUHPP Live Webinar: EU Cancer Mission - Cancer prevention: Implementation research and behavioural change (29 April 2025, 9.30-12.30 CET)

1 min read
News announcement
19 March 2025

Recording and presentation - EUHPP Live Webinar: Introducing the AUGMENT Biosimilars Project - Goals, learnings and next steps (18 March 2025)

1 min read
News announcement
17 March 2025

European Commission announces High-Level Event on the European Health Data Space

1 min read
News announcement
10 March 2025

Recording and presentation - EUHPP Live Webinar: Mycotoxin risks in Europe and the potential impacts of climate change (10 March 2025)

1 min read

See all

Documents

EU4Health and the European Health Union

EU4Health will pave the way to a European Health Union by investing in urgent health priorities:

response to the COVID-19 crisis and reinforcing the EU’s resilience for cross-border health threats
Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan
Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe

Other areas, such as health systems’ digitalisation, reducing the number of antimicrobial-resistant infections and improving vaccination rates will also be boosted.

The EU will expand successful initiatives like the European Reference Networks for rare diseases and continue to pursue international cooperation on global health threats and challenges.

Work programmes

EU4Health is implemented by annual Work Programmes supporting a broad range of actions that are clustered under four overarching “strands” with a cross-cutting focus on cancer.

Crisis preparedness
Health promotion & disease prevention
Health systems & healthcare workforce
Digital

The programme provides funding to eligible entities, health organisations and NGOs from EU countries, or non-EU countries associated to the programme.

Actors involved

A targeted Stakeholders consultation took place from 30/03/2023 to 22/05/2023. A Stakeholders event was organised on 09/06/2023. As a result the following documents were produced:

Many actors are necessary to make EU4Health a reality:

EU countries are consulted on the priorities and strategic orientations of the programme and work together with the Commission in the ‘EU4Health Steering Group’ to ensure consistency and complementarity with national health policies. They provide their opinion in the EU4Health Programme Committee before the adoption of the annual work programmes.
Third countries associated to the EU4Health programme participate in the consultation process and observe the work of the EU4Health Steering Group and Programme Committee. They benefit of the funding as any other EU country.
Stakeholders including representatives of civil society and patients’ associations, academics and organisations of healthcare professionals, provide input on priorities and strategic orientations and on the needs to be addressed through the annual work programme.
The European Parliament is informed about the progress of the preparatory work and outreach activities with stakeholders.
The European Commission prepares, adopts and implements the annual work programmes, and monitors and reports on the progress regarding fulfilment of the programme objectives. It may also seek the views of relevant decentralised agencies and of independent experts in the field of health on technical or scientific matters of relevance for the implementation of the programme.
The Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA) implements the programme.

Associated non-EU countries

Norway, Iceland, Ukraine, Moldova and Montenegro are associated to the EU4Health Programme.

The association and participation of Norway and Iceland (EFTA countries) to the EU4Health Programme is governed by the Protocol 31 on cooperation in specific fields outside the four freedoms of the Agreement on the European Economic Area (OJ No L 1, 3.1.1994, p. 3).

The European Commission signed an association agreement with Ukrainian, Moldovan and Montenegrin authorities that opens access to EU funding for these countries.

Funding & Tenders

Funding opportunities under the EU4Health Programme are published by the Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA). Please frequently visit HaDEA’s pages on calls for proposals and calls for tenders.

Synergies and complementarities with other funds

Health challenges are cross-cutting by nature. EU4Health works together with other Union programmes, policies, instruments and actions:

European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) to support vulnerable groups in accessing healthcare
European Regional and Development Fund to improve regional health infrastructure
Horizon Europe for health research
Union Civil Protection Mechanism/rescEU to create stockpiles for emergency medical supplies
Digital Europe and Connecting Europe Facility for creating the digital infrastructure needed for digital health
InvestEU Programme
Single Market Programme
Recovery and Resilience Facility
Erasmus+
Emergency Support Instrument

More information

Previous Health Programmes

Since 2003, EU health programmes have generated knowledge and evidence as a basis for informed policymaking and further research. This includes best practice, tools, and methodologies that benefitted both the public health community and citizens directly (e.g. improving diagnostic tests, supporting EU countries in developing national actions plans on cancer, improving patient care).