Secretariat of the Subcommittee on Public Health

The Directorate-General for Internal Policies of the Union (DG IPOL) is responsible for organising the work of the Parliament’s committees dealing with the EU’s internal policies, and for assisting Members in the exercise of the legislative, budgetary and oversight powers conferred upon the European Parliament.

On 14 February 2023, the European Parliament approved the creation of the Subcommittee on Public Health (SANT), made up of 30 full members and 30 substitute members. According to its approved mandate, the subcommittee will deal with pharmaceutical and cosmetic products, the health aspects of bioterrorism, the European Medicines Agency, and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

Health depends on DNA code but it must not depend on postal code. As Chair of the Subcommittee on Public Health, I would like to give a new impulse to the subcommittee, focus its works on European pharmaceutical sovereignty and on fighting health inequalities between countries and within, between densely populated urban areas and remote ones, such as rural communities. Working on securing common health standards across the EU and advancing the European Health Union should also be further explored during SANT activities. We should use the social support momentum gained after the COVID-19 pandemic, where a common European response proved to be more effective than single state efforts or cost-increasing competition among EU countries.

• Support Committee Administrators in the preparation of legislative and non-legislative files;
• Conduct research and prepare background documentation and information notes on current public health-related topics;
• Draft and regularly upload SANT newsletter;
• Assist with the organisation and logistics of Committee meetings;
• Attend Committee meetings and take notes;
• Assist with the drafting of hearing programs, invitation letters, preparation of the minutes and feedback notes after each SANT meeting;
• Attend, on behalf of SANT, outside public health-related events and conferences organised by various stakeholders in the healthcare sector and other institutional bodies and report to the unit.

The trainee will learn and contribute to various tasks, essential for the effective functioning of the Committee. The responsibilities include:

• Assisting with file preparation: the trainee will work closely with committee administrators to assist with the preparation of both legislative and non-legislative files, contributing to the overall file preparation process; 
• Conducting research: the trainee will engage in research activities to gather information on current public health-related topics and prepare information notes;
• Newsletter drafting: the trainee will be involved in drafting sections of SANT newsletter and in the regular uploads of the newsletter content;
• Supporting meeting organisation: the trainee will provide assistance in organising committee meetings by helping with logistical arrangements and preparing meetings documentation;
• Attendance of meetings: the trainee will actively participate in committee meetings alongside administrators and assistants by taking notes of the items discussed and the decisions taken;
• Preparation of meetings documents: the trainee will support the drafting process of various meeting documents, including hearing programs, invitation letters, minutes and feedback notes;
• Representing SANT at outside event: the trainee will have the opportunity to participate and engage, on behalf of the SANT committee, in outside public health-related events organized by various stakeholders in the healthcare sector and other institutional bodies, and to report back to the unit the key insights of these events.

You should have pursued education in the area on public health, be motivated to work in the area of regulation and governance of public health.

You should be open to working in a multi-cultural environment and be highly motivated for working in the European Parliament.