Source: European Parliament
Question for written answer E-001944/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Lefteris Nikolaou-Alavanos (NI)
The Greek Ministry of Health’s plan to collect blood samples in bulk from babies born in Greece from 2025 to 2029 has raised serious concerns.
Both the current Nea Dimokratia Government and its predecessors are massively to blame, since for years they have pressed on with the commercialisation of healthcare, paving the way also for that of genetics – which, together with large pharmaceutical companies, has been achieved by means of pilot projects and, now, with the programme contract, the DNA of newborn babies is being handed over in its entirety to private sector giants.
This represents the implementation of an EU strategy, as reflected in Regulation (EU) 2024/1938 on substances of human origin, which institutionalises and legalises the commercialisation of parts of the human body, and the European Health Data Space (Regulation (EU) 2025/327), which allows healthcare, pharmaceutical and insurance monopolies to collect and process patients’ medical data, transforming it into a valuable commodity.
Can the Commission therefore answer the following:
- 1.What view does it take of the fact that the genetic data of newborn babies will be used as a commodity, implementing dangerous EU regulations and ultimately sacrificing their safety on the altar of group profits?
- 2.What view does it take of the fact that EU policy treats genetic data as a hugely profitable commodity, while families are forced to pay huge sums for their infants’ examination and subsequent treatment?
Submitted: 14.5.2025