18
May
2026
Watch
European solidarity: key to securing medicine access in a shifting geopolitical era (debate)
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, in a world marked by geopolitical tensions and strategic competition, access to medicines is no longer just a matter of public health. It is a matter of European sovereignty. We talk a lot about sovereignty and we talk in Bucharest, we talk in Paris, in Warsaw and in other European capitals. But in terms of medicine, the truth is simple: You cannot be truly sovereign if your patients depend on decisions made in other parts of the world. You are not sovereign if you do not have access to active substances. You're not sovereign if you don't have production capacity. You are not sovereign if your patients wait months or years for treatments already available in other parts of the world, sometimes even in other European countries. Real sovereignty is not earned on TV, it is not earned through isolation. It is built through investment, research, industry and common bargaining power. And this power cannot be possessed by a country of a few million or even a few tens of millions of people. We can only have it together, in a united Europe. For Romania, this reality is painful. Romanian patients are often among the last in the European Union to benefit from innovative treatments, and that needs to change. That is why the agreement reached last week through the Critical Medicines Act, for which I was responsible from Renew Europe, is important. Europe is finally starting to treat access to medicines as a strategic priority. The new measures will support European production of critical medicines, reduce dependence on third countries and allow investments in strategic projects right here in the European Union. Voluntary joint procurement can bring more bargaining power for each country and fairer access for patients, including those in Romania. This is the sovereignty that matters, not the slogan. This is the sovereignty that puts medicines on the shelf, treatments in hospitals and real chances for patients. This is a Europe that cooperates, that produces, that protects its citizens.