A package of health proposals intended to build up the EU’s resilience to health threats while strengthening the competitiveness of Europe’s pharmaceutical industry and ensuring access to affordable drugs takes a major step through the legislative process this week.

The EU has ambitious plans for dealing with future health crises, bolstering needs-led innovation, improving access to medicines, and tackling drug shortages.

The European Medicines Agency has begun a rolling review of Moderna’s mRNA vaccine, and its new executive director, Emer Cooke, has taken up her role with a promise to make tackling COVID-19 her “number one priority.”