Overview

How can Member States reach European Union (EU) funding to address key health challenges and strengthen their national health systems?
Can the EU play a role in supporting Member States secure resources for health systems?

The EU provides different forms of support for Member States, including a wide range of funding instruments. However, each of these comes with a slightly different focus and design, including different timelines, application processes, eligibility criteria, budget allocation schemes, and governance mechanisms. It can therefore be challenging for Member States to navigate the funding landscape and to identify and access the right opportunities for their health systems’ needs.

Rather than providing an exhaustive mapping of EU instruments and resources, this report is a hands-on manual presenting the key findings from a mapping exercise of EU instruments conducted by the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies within the scope of the Technical Support Instrument (TSI) project on building a sustainable EU Health Resources Hub. The project is overseen by the European Commission’s Directorate General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM) and sees three Member States (Austria, Belgium and Slovenia) partnering up to address the common challenge of making the case for investing in health and accessing EU funding instruments to do so. The project’s overarching aim is to establish a One-Stop-Shop to help Member States reach relevant EU funding opportunities.

This report discusses tailored options for the use and combination of relevant EU instruments focusing on the realization of three pilot cases chosen by the participating Member States based on their pre-identified health system needs:

Austria: Greening of health care facilities, with a focus on hospitals
Belgium: Implementing population health management approaches for integrated care
Slovenia: Strengthening access to primary health care through a telephone triage and advice system

The report also discusses the importance of advisory services at the EU level and presents key early learnings from the mapping exercise that can inform the realization of the Member States’ pilot cases and the creation of a sustainable EU Health Resources Hub moving forward.