Centralising procurement in the EU: the case of the new Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA)

Public health emergencies require coordinated efforts across borders to ensure the availability and safety of essential medical countermeasures in Europe and in the Member States. Recent EU-wide initiatives like rescEU, Joint Procurement, and Advanced Purchase Agreements for pandemic vaccines faced challenges due to transparency, coordination, and competition concerns among public purchasers. Despite this, they highlighted a shift towards centralised procurement and the need for a more structured approach at the EU level. In 2021, the creation of DG Health’s Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) marked a decisive step towards the European Health Union, with a dual focus on preparedness and crisis response. HERA’s preparedness mode emphasises the strengthening of stockpiles, both physical and virtual, while its crisis mode involves a centralised EU procurement system for medical countermeasures against various risks. This innovative approach underlines the importance of digitalisation in achieving these goals and underlines the need for HERA to strengthen its IT and data capacity. On the other hand, industry is less inclined to support centralised supply and e-procurement due to concerns about market influence and pricing control. Achieving efficient readiness and response thus necessitates HERA’s strong engagement with the medical and tech sectors, involving experts in strategic planning, operations, and supply challenges. Effective data collection and sharing have already shown significance, and the European Health Data Space offers HERA a valuable chance to access data for the benefit of the EU, citizens, and the market.