Speech by Commissioner Várhelyi at the EU Global Health Policy Forum 2025

European Commission -Speech [Check Against Delivery] Speech by Commissioner Várhelyi at the EU Global Health Policy Forum 2025 Brussels, 15 May 2025 Ladies and gentlemen, It is my great pleasure to welcome you to the 2025 edition of the EU Global Health Policy Forum. This Forum has become essential for collective thinking, building partnerships, and, most importantly, for taking action. Because action driven by a clear goal that we have set ourselves has never been so important as it is today, creating a healthier future for all of us. This year's forum, I think, comes at a very crucial, if not critical moment. The global health landscape has fundamentally changed, and it is about to change even further. Health has become a matter of economic stability and competitiveness, but also security. Here, the European Commission will take this responsibility very seriously. As we gather here, two and a half years after the adoption of the EU Global Health Strategy, our shared commitment is more important than ever. We have worked very hard to align our domestic and global priorities, making sure that our internal actions align with our external commitments. So living up to our responsibility begins at home. This is how we see things. With the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Health Union has strengthened our domestic ability to respond at EU level to health challenges. We have new rules on serious crossborder threats to health, revised mandates...