Please check to see if your question has been answered below. If not, please reach out to the EHP secretariat at contact [@] healthparliament.eu
To find the information about the structure, format and specifics of our 7th edition, please go to our Current Edition page.
The European Health Parliament is a multidisciplinary movement connecting and empowering the next generation of European health leaders to provide disruptive, actionable solutions for health. Each year, over the course of three plenary sessions, 60 of the brightest young minds in health work in five committees to develop policy recommendations for the future of European health. By taking part in the EHP, members are provided with the connections, knowledge, and tools they need to drive policy change in Europe.
The EHP wants to achieve two objectives.
First, the EHP wants to prepare the next generation of health leaders so they are equipped to drive policy changes in Europe. EHP members gain practical experience through their interaction with stakeholders, both at plenary sessions and through their committee activities and recommendations. They are also offered a series of training sessions. Moreover, the EHP connects new EHP cohorts with the alumni community and with key stakeholders in the field of health, enabling them to continue to lead once their year with the EHP has ended.
Second, by empowering this community of talented young professionals, the EHP wants to provide disruptive recommendations for EU health policy. Europe’s health systems are under significant pressure to evolve in a changing environment and in need of valuable, actionable and innovative policy.
The EHP is European because it seeks to provide solutions to European health issues. Our recommendations are primarily designed for policymakers at the European level, though they could also be used to address these issues at a national level.
The EHP focusses on health issues because Europe’s health systems are under pressure to evolve. Being healthy is a concern to everyone, and it is therefore important that our health systems are up to the job.
The EHP considers itself a parliament because its members come together to deliberate the future of European health policy. Through the work of five committees and meetings with stakeholders, EHP members develop policy recommendations that are presented to policymakers. Neither elected nor representing a political party, EHP members are selected for their contribution to, and potential to lead in, European health policy. They also represent the voice of the young generation, who stand to use more health services as they age.
Each year the EHP convenes a diverse group of 60 young professionals representing all healthcare sectors, including the medical profession, industry, academia, public sector, patient associations, and civil society.
Members come from a wide range of educational backgrounds, with degrees in political studies, biomedical science, pharmacy, medicine, economics and international relations, communications, engineers, urban planners, designers, among others. EHP members also embody European diversity, as they come from different European countries with varied backgrounds.
EHP membership is limited to one edition, as each year the EHP grants a new group of leaders the opportunity to participate and shape the future of European health.
EHP participants do not represent political parties.
Over the course of one edition with three plenary sessions, EHP members work in five committees to develop a series of policy recommendations. Each committee addresses a specific theme.
During the Launch & Welcome meeting on 19 November 2021, EHP Partners will present the initiative to the new participants. EHP participants were also informed on various important deadlines and what the upcoming months will look like.
Before the first plenary:
Each committee will then begin its work around one specific theme, with the aim of developing a series of policy recommendations to be presented in June 2022. Each committee is free to determine their own scope of work within the theme as well as their own internal working processes. Developing the recommendations typically involves research and interviews with stakeholders. Committees meet at their own volition. The committees will also communicate their ideas via several social media channels throughout the programme.
All members meet at three plenary sessions during the course of the programme, held in hybrid form this year. Attendance at the plenary sessions is compulsory. For more information about this year’s sessions, visit Current Edition page.
The EHP is not affiliated with the European Parliament or other EU institutions.
Members of the European Parliament, Commission officials and other representatives of the EU institutions are regularly invited to contribute to the EHP, for instance by participating as speakers or jury members in the plenary sessions or by meeting with EHP committees directly.
The EHP has also partnered with EU40, the network of young Members of the European Parliament under the age of 40, but this organisation is independent of the European Parliament.
The EHP cannot be visited as it is not a physical place.
The five EHP committees develop and present a set of policy recommendations on five pressing themes, which aim to serve as inspiration for EU policymakers’ own proposals. With their recommendations, EHP members aim to drive policy change for better health in Europe.
EHP recommendations have already been included in EU legislative proposals:
The relevance of EHP recommendations is also ensured through the selection of the five themes of each edition. Prior to the start of a new edition, the EHP and European Commission cooperate to ensure that all themes are aligned with the EU’s health policy priorities.
The EHP is also recognised as a partner in the Value in Healthcare project of the World Economic Forum’s Shaping the Future of Health and Healthcare System Initiative.
We welcome engagement from and with our stakeholders. EHP members interview policymakers, MEPs and our partners, among others, to gain input on Europe’s most pressing health issues. Directly engaging with our committees is highly appreciated, as is participation as a speaker at our plenary sessions.
If you want to get in touch with EHP, please email us at contact [@] healthparliament.eu or get in touch with us via our social media channels.
All EHP recommendations can be cited after publication. For instance:
European Health Parliament, Committee on Outcomes-Based Healthcare, ‘Boosting Healthcare Outcomes in Europe’, in European Health Parliament, ‘Make Health Great Again: Recommendations by the Next Generation’, Brussels, April 2018, pp. 11-26. Available from: www.healthparliament.eu.
We are looking for enthusiastic young thinkers with the ambition to shape the future of Europe and to co-author policy recommendations. Participants need to be between 23 and 35 years old and hold at least a bachelor’s degree. Prior experience or background in healthcare or policy is desired, but not required.
Participants need to be associated with the EU in any one of the following ways: citizenship, residence, or working/studying for an EU-based organisation. They do not need to be based in Brussels, but attendance at all plenary sessions is compulsory, whether in person in Brussel sor online.
To apply for the EHP, please fill out the application form, where we ask you to motivate your reasons for your application.
The application period for EHP7 is currently open, you can find more information by clicking here.
Participants are required to attend and engage actively in the plenary sessions. In between sessions, it is up to each Committee to identify the most suitable working methods. Committee participants can meet face-to-face and/or communicate via a wide range of social media and online platforms that will be at their disposal.
Based on past experience, we know that workload increases gradually, peaking between the 2nd and 3rd plenary sessions in April and May when the recommendations need to be submitted. We estimate that the 14 members of the EHP leadership spend on average between 5-10 hours per week from January through June, while that number will be lower for other participants.
There is no participation fee for participants. Travel/logistics costs will not be reimbursed.
The EHP provides the next generation of health leaders with the connections and knowledge they need to promote European health throughout their careers.
EHP members gain practical experience through researching and writing their recommendations, and through their participation in all sessions where they meet to brainstorm, examine and discuss ideas and finally present the five sets of recommendations.
EHP members can also participate in:
The EHP Leadership, elected, each year by the cohort, also gets a chance to enhance their leadership skills throughout the edition and beyond. Until EHP6, the Leadership consisted of a President as well as a Chair and Vice-Chair per committee who are responsible for managing committee activities from research and stakeholder outreach to publication. EHP7 will include 3 additional roles who will work across committees, a Communication Officer, a Community Officer and an Outreach Officer.
Many EHP members have gone on to great careers in European health. Notable alumni include:
The EHP alumni community also continues to grow year on year. After six editions, the EHP community now stands at nearly 400 members. More are set join EHP 7. The alumni community plays a vital role in contributing to the success of the current edition, and in connecting EHP members across editions.
The six founding Partners aspired to create and facilitate an idea-generating platform with 55 young professionals and students who want to help shape the future of European health. The EHP aims to provide this next generation with the connections and knowledge they need to come up with the creative and actionable solutions that Europe’s health systems so desperately need, now and in the future.
The six founding Partners were Johnson & Johnson, European Patient’s Forum, College of Europe, EU40, POLITICO and Google.
As of EHP7, the EHP Partners are Johnson & Johnson, European Patient’s Forum, College of Europe, EU40, PNKetchum+, Mavence, Young European Leadership, Euronews and European Health Futures Forum.
The EHP is currently financed by its Partners.
Partners do not have a say in EHP recommendations.
Prior to the start of a new edition the Partners, in cooperation with the European Commission, decide on the five themes for the EHP committees. This is done to ensure that each edition discusses the most pressing EU health priorities.
After the recommendations are finalised by the committees, the Partners provide editing services in order to be able to present a coherent set of policy recommendations at the final plenary session. These services are limited to proofreading and design and do not include content alteration. EHP committees may ask the Partners to assist their work by providing access to information or contacts, but the Partners do not influence the content of recommendations.
The EHP is registered in the EU Transparency Register: 067711130762-48. Since it is not a legal entity, the EHP is registered as a de facto association.
EHP is a movement of members who write their policy recommendations in their private capacity, as professionals interested in EU health policy.
EHP members and EHP partners are not remunerated. Similarly, any stakeholders or experts interviewed for the EHP are not remunerated.
For more information, please contact us on our social channel or through email on contact [@] healthparliament.eu
