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Cyprus currently holds the six-month presidency of the European Counciluntil 30 June 2026. The presidency motto is “An Autonomous Union. Open to the World”. Among the presidency’s keywords and phrases are: autonomy, competitiveness, long-term budget, security, and values – especially leaving no-one behind. The presidency’s programme of activities contains lots of interesting information on what can be expected from the EU over the next few months.
Developments of interest
The European Council has numerous committees that work on important topics.
On a financing front, the presidency plans to progress timely negotiations on the European Union’s plans for its Multiannual Financial Framework, which will allot European budgets during 2028-2034.
Spotlights include what the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs (EPSCO) Council will be doing. The European Union (EU) wants to see citizens supported in being able to adapt to challenges and opportunities arising from digital and environmental developments, and demographic realities.
The Cyprus presidency will lead the work of EPSCO with this vision:
- strengthening Europe’s social model through the European Pillar of Social Rights,
- advancing the Union of Skills,
- and reinforcing a more resilient and integrated European Health Union.
In terms of the next steps in the European Health Data Space (EHDS), the focus is on support for the creation of unified, robust, and secure health data ecosystem. Through it, health service delivery will be improved, and innovation fostered – especially on artificial intelligence (AI)-based solutions.
On the digital front, the presidency wants to emphasise the potential for EU digital leadership in fields such as AI, cloud infrastructure, and cybersecurity.
Activities of interest by Cyprus
Coordinated by the National eHealth Authority of Cyprus, it is always worth watching out for developments in the work of the Xt-EHR joint action. The joint action now has close to 60 members. Its aim is to lay the technical, governance, and legal foundations for seamless cross-border electronic health data exchange, based on the European Electronic Health Record exchange Format (EEHRxF). The joint action has been developing potential documentation and guidelines for implementation of the EHDS, and has encouraged plenty of feedback on its draft deliverables.
Xt-EHR and the National eHealth Authority of Cyprus were highly visible at the 2026 Athens Digital Health Week, which took place from 16-20 February 2026. The authority was one of the three co-organisers. COMFORTage, which pilots large-scale implementation of digital (including AI) solutions for people with dementia and/or who are frail, was also at the event.
MindByte, based in Cyprus, is the publisher of Health Management – a useful publication for healthcare professionals including health managers. EHTEL is proud to have a number of its members who have co-authored publications in Health Management’s two-monthly journal.
In February 2026, the journal published insights into the xShare Yellow Button in a detailed piece on breaking down silos and empowering people authored by EHTEL Secretariat member, Luc Nicolas.
In March 2026, further useful information – a report and a video – on the xShare Yellow Button and innovating for everyday life emerged from EHTEL’s Thought Leader Symposium, held in Helsinki, Finland, on 21 January 2026.
(Co-)Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or HaDEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.