EBS NEWS

Taking time out of her busy schedule this November, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will draw conclusions on Europe’s response to the unprecedented challenges faced over the past five years, including a global pandemic, energy crisis, and conflict on Europe’s doorstep.She will underscore the prospects that await the forthcoming European legislative term, emphasizing the need for the next legislature to nurture recovery, resilience, and economic wellbeing in the next mandate.Register to hear her address and secure your in-person attendance.

European elections are on the horizon in an era of increased global competition, where the European Union is called to face unprecedented challenges such as the climate crisis, lagging competitiveness and supply chain disruptions. Titled "The 2024-2029 EU Agenda: Strong Business for a Stronger Europe", the 2023 edition of the European Business Summit will aim at presenting a united response across all economic sectors. In this context, the value of public-private partnerships to foster resilience cannot be ignored: ensuring that the EU will meet its targets in digitalisation, emissions reduction, transport, innovation and more will require considerable input and cooperation with the business community. This year, EBS will bring forward the debate by hosting panel sessions and interviews around four main pillars: The Future of the EU The Future of the Energy Transition is Here Towards an Innovative, Digital, and Resilient Economy Europe in the World: Competition, Trade, and Industry With the participation of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis, EU Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski and more high-level representatives of the EU institutions, key industry players, think tanks and NGOs, EBS will provide the perfect platform to set the stage in EU affairs ahead of the next EU legislature. Mark your calendars for 28, 29 & 30 November 2023.

June 2023 was a very busy month at the European Business Summits.We organised three Summits:The European Health Summit (Summer Edition) - 8 June 2023EU-Africa Business Summit - 15 June 2023EU Digital Summit - 21 June 2023In total, we hosted...80 speakers from business, policy and academia25 panels covering pressing topics such as Health, EU-Africa relations and DigitalisationOver 3000 participants, joining both virtually and in-person.Thank you to all the participants for contributing to bringing forward the debate on the latest issues and for bridging the gap between the realms of policy and business.SAVE THE DATE for our upcoming Summits: European Business Summit - 28, 29 & 30 November 2023European Health Summit - 7 December 2023We look forward to seeing you at our next events!In the meanwhile, stay tuned on our social media to always keep updated on the latest news from EBS! Twitter Linkedin Instagram

EBS is proud to present its brand new weekly newsletter! Following up on its longstanding mission of providing intelligence and creating space for debate, EBS, in partnership with Agence Europe, will curate a selection of news on the most important topics. Delivered to your inbox every Tuesday morning, it will feature the most pressing issues of the past week related to sustainability, international trade, digitalisation, innovation, defence and health policy.   For more information, contact Napisa Hannoun-Suvannatat, Communications Managern.suvannatat@ebsummit.eu / +32 (0)2 645 3 480

The first edition of EHS Task Force Public Debate on "Rare Diseases, Advanced Therapies - with the Focus on Gene Therapy" gathered 7 renowned experts from the health sector and attracted many viewers.  We extend our special thanks to our speakers and viewers and wish to meet again at the European Health Summit on 9 December 2021.  https://vimeo.com/572564621 AMONG THE HIGHLIGHTSProf. Michel Goldman, President, Moderator, President I3h Institute: "Now that the pandemic is more or less under control, it is time to address major public health issues and especially rare disease research." Irene Norstedt, Director, People Directorate, DG RTD, European Commission: "Rare disease is a very challenging area. We must collaborate with all sectors at both EU and global level. The EU has already invested quite heavily & will continue to fund research." Simone Boselli, Director of Public Affairs at EURORDIS: "We are preparing our patients to give input that is timely and effective through training. Meaningful patient input and engagement at all levels are important also for clinical trials." Dirk Vander Mijnsbrugge, Vice President, Medical Affairs Lead Rare Diseases at Pfizer: "The Covid-19 pandemic created a sense of urgency which led to an unprecedent level of collaboration, openness & willingness to implement innovative thinking & transformative procedures. Hopefully we will take these lessons learned and apply them to gene therapies." Kaja Kantorska, Policy Officer Pharmaceuticals, DG SANTE, European Commission: "We're reforming the big pharmaceutical regulation according to three main goals: ensuring timely approuval, enhancing and boosting the development of innovative products and providing better medicine access to patients." Brieuc Van Damme, Director-General Healthcare at RIZIV-INAMI: "It is important to facilitate early dialogue between industry, payers & regulators where all actors share their expectations about what they are willing to pay. Contractual pacts can be used to that end." Prof. Hildegard Büning, President, European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy: "We have to address three issues: access of patients to the therapies, improving the current therapies and dealing with manufacturing issues." See All Highlights For more information, contact Felicia Balan, Project Manager felicia@ebsummit.eu / +32 (0)2 645 3 484 SAVE THE DATE - EUROPEAN HEALTH SUMMIT - 9 DECEMBER

The 2021 Edition of Rethink Digital Summit took place on 25 May. The Summit live-streamed 10 exclusive panels and interactive interviews featuring over 35 prominent speakers from business, policy, civil society, and academia. We thank the speakers and participants for attending the ReThink Digital Summit 2021 edition, titled "Shaping Europe's Digital Future"! Shaping Europe’s digital future is both a priority and a challenge for the European Union, which aims to be at the forefront of innovation while protecting consumers and ensuring the markets’ fairness. During the Rethink Digital Summit, the hot questions in the EU digital agenda were addressed: • How to mitigate online risks while preserving the digital ecosystem? • What role for national enforcement bodies? • How to encourage cooperation between Member states? • What international implications will market regulations have? Replay Rethink Digital Summit! AMONG THE HIGHLIGHTS Cédric O, French Secretary of State for the digital Economy: "The EU has to decide its future on its own, independently of the US administration. What legal framework do we want? What balance between innovation & regulation? It's our deal!" Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, Member of the European Parliament: How soon do you expect the Digital Markets Act to be implemented? "The sooner the better! Hopefully for the French presidency of the EU in the next semester. We have to make sure we develop a flexible & efficient legal tool to regulate gatekeepers." Didier Reynders, Commissioner for Justice and AI: "The new US administration is more open for discussion at a multilateral level. We want to engage with the US on enforcing citizens' rights in case of a violation of data protection." Anne-Marie Engtoft Larsen, Denmark's tech Ambassador: "Denmark launched a strategy for tech diplomacy to put governments back in the driver seat to build our shared technological future. Democracy on a global scale is challenged." Tommaso Valletti, Professor of Economics at Imperial College Business School:"Europe has to define its own model of data ownership. We are not forced to choose between the US or the Chinese models, an alternative is possible." View All Highlights

The first edition of EHS Task Force Public Debate on "Pandemics and Vaccines, Hera Incubator" gathered 7 experts from the health sector and attracted over 200 viewers.  We extend our special thanks to our speakers and viewers and wish to meet again at the European Health Summit on 9 December 2021.  https://vimeo.com/540608066 AMONG THE HIGHLIGHTSPierre Delsaux, Deputy Director General, DG SANTÉ, European Commission: “With funds from the European Commission, the HERA Incubator has created a clinal trial network in the EU to speed up the authorisation process for a new variant vaccine.” / “HERA will focuse on COVID but also on future pandemics by monitoring the situation, anticipating the issue and providing the necessary measures."Maria Carvalho, Member of the European Parliament: “We need more investment in the health ecosystem to be able to transform the knowledge in solutions in a short time and in an effective & affordable way. We need to reduce the bureaucracy & the market fragmentation."Luc Debruyne, Strategy Advisor to CEO, CEPI & Former CEO, GSK Vaccines: “2021 is a complex year because it is all about the virus behaviour and its effect on the vaccination strategies. We are turning to a regional approach. CEPI will be an enabler to make sure we deal with this pandemic in a global and collaborative way.”Heike Galbraith, Pfizer, Global Director rare diseases and vaccines: “I can only support the use of artificial intelligence & IT in improving clinical trials. The protection of Intellectual Property rights plays a big role, we wouldn’t have had the vaccines so quickly without it." / "The power of collaboration is a key learning from this pandemic."Sam Proesmans, Advisor to the Belgian Prime Minister: "As Member States we should have some self-reflection: What are we best at and how we can contribute to HERA?" / "We need to coordinate across borders on the healthcare response. A better coordination on all levels will be beneficial to all member states.”Elena Bonfiglioli, Microsoft, Regional business leader health and life sciences EMEA: "We need to make sure to invest in the resilience of the health system. We need to build something that will equip our response better and faster as we go forward." / "We need to continue thinking on transparency for vaccine planning, to give clarity of what's happening, and to provide a real time response to the citizens' demands. We need to share sequencing data at European level.” See All Highlights For more information, contact Felicia Balan, Project Manager felicia@ebsummit.eu / +32 (0)2 645 3 484 SAVE THE DATE - EUROPEAN HEALTH SUMMIT - 9 DECEMBER

EBS is proud to present the 2021 edition of the ReThink Digital Summit, titled “Shaping Europe’s digital future” which will take place on 25 May.   Shaping Europe’s digital future is both a priority and a challenge for the European Union, which aims to be at the forefront of innovation while protecting consumers and ensuring the markets’ fairness. During the Rethink Digital Summit, the hot questions in the EU digital agenda will be addressed: • How to mitigate online risks while preserving the digital ecosystem? • What role for national enforcement bodies? • How to encourage cooperation between Member states? • What international implications will market regulations have? During the Summit's ten sessions, leading business figures, influencers and policymakers will be brought together for constructive debates. Panels will include top-level business speakers from Microsoft, Salesforce and Cisco Systems Inc. among others. European Commission officials including Commissioner Didier Reynders and Director General of DG COMP Olivier Guersent, as well as Members of the European Parliament will participate in the panels and interviews. EBS will also have the privilege of including an exclusive interview with Cédric O, the French Secretary of State for Digital Economy. Digital policy specialists from think tanks and academia will bring their expertise into the panels. The sessions will be moderated by renowned reporters from the Wall Street Journal, Euronews and Euractiv. The Rethink Digital Summit will be presented as a digital event. All sessions will be live-streamed and participants will have the opportunity to rewatch the sessions on the website after the event. Join the ReThink Digital Summit to discuss key questions on the future of the digital sector! Register Now!

"Europe after Brexit: What's next?" - EBS Live Debate with Michel Barnier, Brexit Chief Negotiator and Maria Tadeo, Bloomberg Reporter The EBS Live Debate with Michel Barnier, Brexit Chief Negotiator and Maria Tadeo, Bloomberg Reporter, titled "Europe after Brexit: What's next for Business" took place on 11 February 2021. The debate attracted 1672 viewers and was mentioned in several journals such as: Bloomberg – Barnier Signals More Delay for London Banks Eyeing EU Market The Express – I’m watching you! Michel Barnier sends Boris fierce warning over Brexit rules The Telegraph – companies to sneak into EU, says Michel Barnier Sky News – Brexit: Barnier stands firm on financial services as Amsterdam claims win over City The Irish Times – Difficulties in the North due to Brexit, not protocol, insists Barnier Reuters – EU’s Barnier: UK must accept what Brexit means, deal on N.Ireland The Independent – UK, EU meeting in bid to calm post-Brexit trade turbulence The Parliament Magazine – Michel Barnier questions ‘level of truth, communications and clarity’ in UK about the impact of Brexit The Times – Brussels monitoring City firms for post-Brexit rule-breaking Financial Times – Bailey’s tough talk on EU raises City worries over post-Brexit access The EBS Live Debate with Michel Barnier was also live-streamed by Bloomberg TV! Access all EBS Live Debates For partnership opportunities, contact Dafne Forni, Partnership Manager, dafne@ebsummit.eu 

EBS is proud to introduce the European Health Summit entitled “Bolstering healthcare to drive European resilience”, set to take place on 1st December 2020 at the Egmont Palace in Brussels. Why a European Health Summit now? The European Health Summit comes at a critical juncture. The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically brought to light the limited coordination between health systems in Europe. In addition, Europe is under extraordinary pressure on a global scale with increasing R&D relocation to other international regions and the acceleration of adoption of innovative medicines elsewhere. It is now critical, more than ever to stimulate discussions, sharing of experiences, collaboration and creating new partnerships is the key to building a more resilient model of healthcare in Europe to ensure the continued well-being of its citizens. With the European Health Summit, we will discuss how to strengthen the healthcare landscape within Europe to avoid future health crisis and economic downturn. Through this new platform, EBS supports a high-level dialogue among the key stakeholders in both policy and business for a long-term perspective. For more information visit: europeanhealthsummit.eu Interested in partnering with us? Contact: Felicia Balan, Project Manager - felicia@ebsummit.eu We hope to see you all in December!  

The third edition of the EBS Live Debate was held on 22 September 2020, featuring the views of Paolo Gentiloni, European Commissioner for the Economy, Nick Clegg, Facebook Vice President for Global Affairs and Communications, Daniel Gros, Director, Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) and Chupi Sweetman, CEO and Founder of Chupi Heirloom Jewellery. Moderated by Maria Tadeo, Europe reporter for Bloomberg Television. EBS is proud to promote the public-private dialogue that is especially necessary in these challenging times. We would like to thank all participants who followed along and shared their thoughts on Twitter and Facebook. A big thank you to the speakers and moderator for their valuable discussion. This ‘Rebooting the European Economy’ debate focused on the EU recovery plan. During the debate, the Commissioner underlined the current challenge for the EU will be to ensure the quality of financial assistance’s implementation, providing support for public investments and green and digital reforms in order to help the EU Member States come out of the coronavirus crisis stronger. Besides this financial assistance, SME business owner Chupi Sweetman outlined how the EU should support SMEs by providing mentorship and digital guidance. She also reaffirmed how it is necessary for EU entrepreneurs to change attitude towards failures and the financial system needs to allow businesses to bounce back. When discussing the Digital transformation and competitiveness of the EU, Facebook’s Nick Clegg outlined that social media are part of the digital transformation of the economy contributing to the creation of jobs, generating sales and levelling the playing field for SMEs by enabling them to reach their customers even during the pandemic. Europe needs to ensure the proper implementation of the Digital market and to reduce its fragmentation. This fragmentation, as Daniel Gros explained, is mainly due to the fact that Member States each implement the common regulations in different ways. Therefore, the real challenge for the EU is to monitor the homogeneous implementation of these rules by national administrations and supervisors. The full live debate is available to re-watch on our website: https://ebsummit.eu/debate We hope to see you at EBS on November 16 and 17!

EBS 2020 is proud to present its exclusive session focused on water resources management taking place on 16 November 2020. Water scarcity has a significant impact on the European economy, affecting industries such as agriculture, industry, and tourism. EBS 2020’s session titled “Natural Capital or how to reconcile Green and Growth: the example of water resources management” will revolve around the topic of water as an entry point into the broader discourse on climate change and how business models can integrate circularity and biodiversity more effectively on a wider scale. This session will offer an inspiring insight from major key-players such as DG Environment Director-General Fink-Hooijer, MEP Pernille Weiss, and the Western Europe President of The Coca-Cola Company, Tim Brett. The session will be part of the EBS 2020 Theme: “Towards a Sustainable and Resilient Europe”, which aims to speed up the action to reconcile short-term economic growth and long-term sustainability of our natural resources. The EBS2020 edition will be presented as a digital event. All EBS2020 sessions will be live-streamed and participants will have the possibility to matchmake and network with other participants online through the Active Online Pass. Register now! ebsummit.eu/registration Partner with us for EBS 2020! Contact our Partnership Managers for more information: Dafné Forni dafne@ebsummit.eu We hope to see you on 16-17 November 2020!

EBS 2020 is proud to present its exclusive session focused on Catalonia’s competitive advantage taking place on 16 November 2020. The purpose of the event is to present Catalonia as a world-class Tech Hub investment destination and to highlight its outstanding position as a foreign investment venture. AAM, Novartis, IBM, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Hempel are just a few examples of cutting-edge multinationals investing in Catalonia. Alstom and Oracle have also chosen Catalonia for their industry 4.0 strategy. The roundtable will focus on Catalonia’s competitive advantage as the first European Capital of Innovation (according to iCapital Prize) and on how the Catalan Government can support your future investments in this strategic location. According to different rankings, Catalonia most R&D investments and showed the highest number of R&D jobs. According to PwC’s latest report, Barcelona stands out for its digitalisation efforts in fields such as culture and tourism, smart healthcare, smart housing and utilities. This positions the Catalan capital as the fourth most well-prepared city for the technological future, coming just after Singapore, London and Shanghai. The session, moderated by Jennifer Baker, will be chaired by Joan Romero, Chief Executive Officer of Catalonia Trade & Investment. Two high-level representatives, Marc Gomez Managing Director & President of ABB Robotics in Spain and Jaume Vives, General Director of Roche Diagnostics will also be joining the panel to share their company’s experiences as active investors in Catalonia. The session will be part of the EBS 2020 Theme: “Towards a Sustainable and Resilient Europe”, which aims to speed up the action to reconcile short-term economic growth and long-term sustainability of our natural resources. The EBS2020 edition will be presented as a digital event. All EBS2020 sessions will be live-streamed and participants will have the possibility to matchmake and network with other participants online through the Active Online Pass. Register now! ebsummit.eu/registration Partner with us for EBS 2020! Contact our Partnership Managers for more information: Dafné Forni dafne@ebsummit.eu We hope to see you on 16-17 November 2020!

EBS2020 is proud to present its exclusive session titled “Europe's Economic Recovery” taking place on 16 November 2020 / 15:30 - 16:30 The European Union is facing planetary emergencies linked to the global sanitary crisis, the environment, the economy, and our social and political systems. This EBS2020’s session will discuss the way the EU and European companies could create adaptive and long-term solutions and how the EU could seize trade opportunities that will contribute to its economic recovery. This session will be moderated by Bloomberg Europe Reporter, Maria Tadeo and will offer an inspiring insight from major key-players such as EU Executive Vice-President, Valdis Dombrovskis, AB InBev President Europe, Jason Warner, Business Europe Director General, Markus J. Beyrer, Mastercard Senior Vice-President, Nicola Villa, and Google President for EMEA Partnerships, Diana Layfield. The session will form part of the EBS 2020 Theme: “Towards a Sustainable and Resilient Europe”, which aims to speed up the action to reconcile short-term economic growth and long-term sustainability of our natural resources. The EBS2020 edition will be presented as a digital event. All EBS2020 sessions will be live-streamed and participants will have the possibility to matchmake and network with other participants online through the Active Online Pass. Register now! ebsummit.eu/registration Partner with us for EBS 2020! Contact our Partnership Managers for more information: Dafné Forni dafne@ebsummit.eu We hope to see you on 16-17 November 2020!

Have a look at the list of confirmed speakers for EBS2020's exclusive session titled “Clean Fuels for all: a pathway to reach climate neutrality in transport” 16 November 2020 / 14:00 - 15:00 This EBS2020’s session titled “Clean Fuels for all: a pathway to reach climate neutrality in transport” will discuss how the European Union and the European industry address the challenge of driving EU Transport towards climate-neutrality, and will highlight the efforts made by the European industry to transform its activities and products to contribute with practical and responsible solutions to a more sustainable transport sector and a climate-neutral future in Europe by 2050. The session will stimulate a debate on the role played by the industry and the regulators to accelerate these developments, on which policy framework will enable this transformation, and on how to create the lead markets for low-carbon products - in particular within the current Green Deal, NextGenerationEU and tax scheme. The conversation will offer the opportunity to look into the challenges faced by specific transport sectors such as Maritime, Road & Aviation, and will highlight the importance of policymakers and of a multi-stakeholder engagement approach to guide a sustainable business transformation. This session will feature EU Commissioner for Transport Adina Vălean, Airlines for Europe Senior Policy Director Laurent Donceel, ENI Chief Green/traditional refinery and marketing Giuseppe Ricci, and will be moderated by NBCNews & MSNBC Global Correspondent Tesa Arcilla. The session will be part of the EBS 2020 Theme: “Rebooting the European economy: Towards a green, digital and more resilient Union", which aims to speed up the action to reconcile short-term economic growth and long-term sustainability of our natural resources. The EBS2020 edition will be presented as a digital event. All EBS2020 sessions will be live-streamed and participants will have the possibility to matchmake and network with other participants online through the Active Online Pass. Register now! ebsummit.eu/registration Partner with us for EBS 2020! Contact our Partnership Manager for more information: Dafné Forni dafne@ebsummit.eu We hope to see you on 16-17 November 2020!

The European Health Summit is proud to announce the participation of major key-players at its interactive panel on the potential of public-private partnerships in tackling Covid-19. The session, titled “Covid-19: Tackling public-private partnerships for the world” will discuss the unprecedented collaborative endeavors across borders, disciplines and sectors generated by the pandemic. Since March, the European Commission has taken several initiatives to mobilize collective intelligence and foster new partnerships to ensure global responses to this world challenge. The panel will underline European strengths and weaknesses revealed by the pandemic and discuss how to make public-private partnerships fit-for-purpose. The session will feature Peter Piot, Special Advisor to the President of the European Commission, Philippe Aghion Professor of Economics at the College de France, Michel Goldman Founder and Co-Director of the I3h Institute, Luc Debruyne, Strategy advisor at CEPI and Andrew from the Financial Times. The European Health Summit’s first edition will be presented as a digital event. All sessions will be live streamed on our website. Register now! europeanhealthsummit.eu/subscribe For more information contact our Programme Assistant: Marianne Lazarovici m.lazarovici@ebsummit.eu We hope to see you on December 1st!

Don’t miss the European Health Summit’s special address by Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission. The Summit will bring together high-level policymakers, business leaders and healthcare experts from across Europe, coming at a critical juncture as the healthcare landscape is rapidly changing. The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically brought to light the limited coordination between health systems of European countries, putting the model of European cooperation under extraordinary pressure. More than ever, stimulating discussions, sharing of experiences and creating new partnerships is key to building a more resilient model for healthcare in Europe and to ensure the well-being of its citizens. By creating this new platform, EBS is willing to support a high-level dialogue among the key stakeholders for a long-term perspective. The European Health Summit’s first edition will be presented as a digital event. All sessions will be live-streamed on our website. Register now! europeanhealthsummit.eu/subscribe For more information contact our Programme Assistant: Marianne Lazarovici m.lazarovici@ebsummit.eu We hope to see you on December 1st!

The European Health Summit is excited to announce the attendance of major key-players at its exclusive session focused on mental health. Often overlooked, mental health will be at the center of this EHS conversation and will discuss the need for policy and financial resources as one in four people worldwide are affected by a mental or neurological disorder at some point in their lives. The conversation will also explore the impact of COVID-19 regarding mental health and the opportunities offered by science and technology for prevention, treatment and care. The conversation will feature H. M. the Queen of the Belgians, Johnson & Johnson CSO Paul Stoffels, WHO Europe Regional Director Hans Kluge, and EBS Director General Arnaud Thysen. The European Health Summit’s first edition will be presented as a digital event. All sessions will be live streamed on our website. Register now! europeanhealthsummit.eu/subscribe For more information contact our Programme Assistant: Marianne Lazarovici m.lazarovici@ebsummit.eu We hope to see you on December 1st!

The European Health Summit is excited to announce the attendance of major key-players at its exclusive session focused on Europe’s resilience in regard to the COVID19 crisis. The session, titled “Covid-19 – Building a more resilient Europe” will discuss European healthcare systems in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis, and will explore the conditions for resiliency at the European level, from efficiency, health data, mass screening, to the capacity to control personal protective equipment stocks and collective action. This panel will draw upon lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic and discuss how a long-term vision for prevention and accessible treatment as well as the capacity to act promptly in health-related emergencies can build a more resilient Europe. The session will feature Frank Vandenbroucke, Belgian Minister of Health, Hans Kluge, WHO Europe Regional Director, István Ujhelyi, Member of the European Parliament, and Maria Tadeo, Bloomberg Television Europe Reporter. The European Health Summit’s first edition will be presented as a digital event. All sessions will be live-streamed on our website. Register now! https://www.europeanhealthsummit.eu/ For more information contact our Programme Assistant: Marianne Lazarovici m.lazarovici@ebsummit.eu We hope to see you on December 1st!

We were honoured to launch this new platform with you! During this exclusive Summit, over 3400 participants attended the EHS 17 high-level panels and interactive interviews featuring over 45 prominent speakers from business, policy, civil society, and academia! The recordings of the sessions are already available on the programme section of the European Health Summit official website, which will also provide you with all the information on the different sessions, speakers and highlights of the Summit. Among the highlights of the European Health Summit 2020 edition: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen detailed the creation of a new agency: the European Health Emergency Response Authority: “HERA will aim to support a better EU level response to cross-border health threats as part of the establishment of the European Health Union.”We were honoured by the attendance of Her Majesty the Queen of the Belgians at the session “A conversation on mental health”: “To address mental distress, we need to start with prevention and promotion of a healthy lifestyle and further develop counselling & tailored interventions."Peter Piot, Special Advisor to the President of the European Commission, underlined: “Crisis expose the fault lines in society. Social protection and safety nets differ complety from one region of the world to another. The positive aspect of this crisis is the solidarity it has generated across Europe. We need to seize this opportunity to develop a European Health Union and ensure we are better prepared for a future pandemic."“I am proud of the EU’s ability to place orders with several laboratories by ensuring a fair distribution of vaccines throughout Europe and being supportive of poorer countries," said Olivier Véran, French Minister of Solidarity and Health on the COVID-19 vaccine.Sandra Gallina, DG SANTE Director-General highlighted: “One of the most important elements of the pandemic is that Europe has spoken with one voice. While going forward with the vaccine strategy we need to ensure that vaccines are affordable and accessible to all member states."Regarding the health data ecosystem, Didier Reynders, EU Commissioner for Justice declared: “Trust is key. We must build trust between the consumers and the producers, between the citizens and the authorities." New EBS Task Force European Health Union This first edition of the European Health Summit is also the start of a new EBS Task Force dedicated to the European Health Union. Through a programme of conferences, live debates and working group meetings, this task force will bring together EU policy-makers, national authorities and regulators, industry representatives, academics and civil society to discuss the priorities of the new Health Union, share ideas, studies and analysis, and articulate policy recommendations. This new project aims at contributing to the realisation of the ambition to make the Union more resilient and consolidated.

This first edition of the European Health Summit is also the start of a new EBS Task Force dedicated to the European Health Union. Through a programme of conferences, live debates and working group meetings, this task force will bring together EU policy-makers, national authorities and regulators, industry representatives, academics and civil society to discuss the priorities of the new Health Union, share ideas, studies and analyses, and articulate policy recommendations. This new project aims at contributing to the realisation of the ambition to make the Union more resilient and consolidated. The European Health Summit Task Force is only accessible to registered members. For any further information, please contact:Felicia Balan, Project Managerfelicia@ebsummit.euDafné Forni, Partnerships Managerdafne@ebsummit.eu