Answer to a written question – Need for diversified, sustainable pain management in the EU to reduce reliance on pharmaceuticals and strengthen supply chains, thus enhancing sustainable healthcare – E-000010/2025(ASW)

1. Member States are responsible for the definition of their health policy. This includes the definition of pain management and measuring gaps in access to painkillers. At EU level, in relation to medicines availability, the Executive Steering Group on Shortages and Safety of Medicinal Products (MSSG)[1], consisting of representatives of Member States, the European Medicines Agency and the Commission, monitors and responds to ongoing shortages of medicines that cannot be resolved at Member State level.

2. Under the EU4Health Programme, seven projects are co-funded to support training initiatives for clinical and non-clinical staff with a focus on digital skills and other relevant skills[2]. One of these projects, the Health Professionals’ Digital Team Skills Advancement[3], develops a digital health literacy strategy and a plan to improve digital literacy in healthcare, which may benefit also those patients in need of pain management.

The proposal for a Critical Medicines Act announced in the Political Guidelines[4] was adopted by the Commission on 11 March 2025[5]. It addresses supply chain vulnerabilities of critical medicines, facilitates increasing EU manufacturing capacity for critical medicines, and reduces Europe’s dependencies on third countries. This proposal complements the reform of the EU pharmaceutical legislation and will build on the ongoing work, notably in the Critical Medicines Alliance and in the MSSG.

• [1] Executive Steering Group on Shortages and Safety of Medicinal Products (MSSG) meetings — European Medicines Agency (EMA): https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/about-us/what-we-do/crisis-preparedness-management/executive-steering-group-shortages-medicinal-products/executive-steering-group-shortages-safety-medicinal-products-mssg-meetings
• [2] https://year-of-skills.europa.eu/news/skills-and-healthcare-training-opportunity-health-professionals-under-eu4health-programme-2023-10-16_en
• [3] https://hpass.healthworkforce.eu/
• [4] Political Guidelines (2024-2029), page 9: https://commission.europa.eu/document/download/e6cd4328-673c-4e7a-8683-f63ffb2cf648_en?filename=Political%20Guidelines%202024-2029_EN.pdf
• [5] https://health.ec.europa.eu/publications/proposal-critical-medicines-act_en