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European Pharmaceutical Students' Association

EPSA

The European Pharmaceutical Students' Association is an independent, peaceful, democratic, non-political, non-religious, non-profit European organisation committed to the interests of pharmaceutical students, youth and recent graduates, representing over 100,000 pharmaceutical students.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with András Tivadar Kulja (Member of the European Parliament)

27 Oct 2025 · Health issues and event preparation

Response to Quality Jobs Roadmap

29 Jul 2025

The European Pharmaceutical Students Association (EPSA) welcomes the European Commissions Quality Jobs Roadmap and strongly supports its goal of promoting fair, sustainable, and attractive employment opportunities across Europe. Representing over 100,000 pharmaceutical students and recent graduates in 36 countries, EPSA views the initiative as a valuable opportunity to ensure that young people entering the pharmaceutical sector can access secure, future-oriented jobs that support both their professional and personal well-being. The Commission rightly highlights that Europe faces significant labour and skills shortages, with 42 occupations identified as being in shortage at EU level, including key healthcare professions. Combined with a shrinking working-age population, expected to decrease by 27 million workers by 2050, these shortages threaten the sustainability of essential services, particularly in healthcare. In pharmacy, poor conditions and low pay are driving professionals away, which threatens both workforce sustainability and patient access to care. From the perspective of students and recent graduates, EPSA stresses that quality jobs start with quality education and fair entry conditions, including internship experiences. However, they are too often unpaid or poorly remunerated, creating financial barriers for students and disproportionately affecting those from less privileged backgrounds. This limits social mobility, discourages mobility across Member States and, in some cases, even affects the choice of specialisation or whether students can afford to complete the required training. EPSA strongly believes that paid internships should become the standard in healthcare education, recognising that they constitute a form of labour contributing directly to the functioning of health systems. For those entering the profession, limited starting salaries, lack of structured mentorship and unclear career progression remain key barriers to retention. Many young pharmacists leave the profession or seek better opportunities abroad, contributing to brain drain within the EU. Better support for young professionals, including structured mentorship programmes, transparent career pathways and fair remuneration for early-career professionals, would make the profession more attractive and ensure that highly trained graduates remain in the European healthcare workforce. The Quality Jobs Roadmaps focus on skills development and future-oriented employment policies is crucial. Pharmaceutical students need access to modernised education that equips them with the skills required to meet the demands of a changing healthcare landscape. EU support for pharmaceutical education and cross-border mobility programmes is essential to allow students to gain experience across different healthcare systems. Integrating digital health, telepharmacy, and AI into training will prepare future professionals for digital and green transitions. Investing in digital tools and automation in pharmacies will reduce admin tasks, enhance patient care, and improve job satisfaction and healthcare outcomes. Improving working conditions is crucial for retaining young professionals. EPSA highlights the need for better work-life balance, mental health support, and fair pay. In rural areas with severe workforce shortages, financial and housing incentives are essential, along with expanding telehealth and telepharmacy to ensure continued access to care. EPSA sees the Quality Jobs Roadmap as a chance to remove barriers preventing young people from joining and staying in the healthcare workforce. They call for fair internships, strong training, and appealing early-career options. EPSA urges the Commission to include youth perspectives and collaborate with student organizations to shape effective policies, emphasizing that investing in young professionals is key to ensuring quality care and resilient health systems. For further information, refer to the Statement attached.
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Response to Evaluation of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control

9 May 2025

The European Pharmaceutical Students Association (EPSA) is a non-profit organisation representing over 100.000 pharmaceutical students within 44 member associations from 36 countries across Europe. The Association was established in 1978 and has headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. EPSAs mission is to actively engage at student and professional levels, bringing pharmacy, knowledge and students together while promoting personal development. EPSA appreciates the opportunity to contribute to the evaluation of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and recognises its critical role in safeguarding public health and acknowledges the comprehensive and valuable scientific materials made available by this body, which we frequently use in our educational activities, policy formulation and advocacy efforts. We particularly value the ECDCs proactive role in risk assessment, early warning systems and coordination among Member States. However, we see room for greater integration of future healthcare professionals, including pharmaceutical students, in activities related to preparedness planning and risk communication as they will be part of the workforce of the future and their involvement and literacy is essential. The Centres transparent and accessible scientific outputs have been vital tools for our students. We endorse the continuous enhancement of transparency in scientific assessments and data dissemination, ensuring these resources remain accessible and user-friendly for educational purposes, ultimately supporting the EUs broader public health goals. Nevertheless, EPSA recommends strengthening efforts to align the Centres activities more closely with educational institutions to ensure a bigger understanding and dissemination of the work done by this institution in the academic and professional settings. EPSA strongly values its existing collaboration with ECDC, to mention our productive meeting earlier this mandate focused on AMR communication strategies and our joint collaboration on AMR Awareness Week. A suggestion, specifically for our field of practice, would be to liaise with ECDC in providing tailored communication and educational materials aimed at pharmacy and healthcare students. Moreover, EPSA highly values its successful and ongoing collaboration with this body, particularly appreciating the active participation and valuable contributions of ECDC representatives in EPSA congresses, conferences, webinars and online educational programmes. In conclusion, EPSA values the ECDCs crucial role in public health protection and its accessible scientific resources. It is of our particular interest to establish a stronger integration of pharmaceutical students into ECDCs activities and maintain continued collaboration through EPSA congresses, webinars and educational campaigns. Furthermore, the deeper involvement of pharmaceutical students will allow to develop a well-trained and informed future workforce, capable of rapidly and effectively responding to health threats.
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Response to EU Strategy on medical countermeasures

9 May 2025

The European Pharmaceutical Students Association (EPSA) is a non-profit organisation representing over 100.000 pharmaceutical students within 44 member associations from 36 countries across Europe. The Association was established in 1978 and has headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. EPSAs mission is to actively engage at student and professional levels, bringing pharmacy, knowledge and students together while promoting personal development. EPSA strongly supports the recognition of medicine shortages as a critical issue within the EU healthcare framework constituting a threat to fundamental human rights, negatively affecting patient outcomes and imposing severe burdens on healthcare systems and professionals. In the particular case of community pharmacists, for example, the PGEU Survey Report on Medicines Shortages 2024 has revealed that, on average, pharmacists spend a total of 11 hours per week solely dealing with shortages. With that said, it is undeniable that pharmacists and future pharmacy professionals have a critical role in managing shortages situations under different career specialisations. In order to effectively fulfill this role, EPSA calls for strengthened and structured educational programmes within university curricula and continuing professional education which should allow for a holistic understanding of the root causes of shortages, explicitly including practical sessions focused on supply-chain dynamics, crisis response, communication strategies and clinical decision-making during shortages. Incorporating simulated shortage scenarios into pharmacy training could significantly enhance preparedness among pharmacy graduates. Additionally, EPSA recommends widespread educational campaigns led by pharmacists to increase public trust and acceptance of generic and biosimilar medications as better health literacy can alleviate misconceptions about generics, enhance adherence to therapy and ultimately reduce pressures on medicine availability. EPSA highlights the critical importance of balanced pricing reforms that address the delicate equilibrium between fostering innovation, through rewarding mechanisms such as intellectual property rights and market exclusivity periods (patents) and ensuring patient access to medicines, by timely introducing affordable generic and biosimilar alternatives. Ultimately, strengthening incentives and regulatory conditions for both innovative and generic producers is essential. Furthermore, EPSA supports flexible pricing reforms with periodic reassessment of generic medications' prices to reflect market realities, thereby ensuring manufacturers maintain sustainable production capacities while preserving affordability necessary for widespread patient access. In parallel with these pricing reforms, EPSA recommends regulatory simplifications and flexibility during medicine shortages, allowing pharmacists to utilise alternative dispensing methods and to make use of their broad spectrum of knowledge on medicines. Regulatory bodies should prioritise patient care over rigid bureaucratic processes, ensuring continuity of treatment and reducing administrative burdens. Additionally, there should be incentives to encourage pharmacies to diversify dispensing practices, especially, among the range of generic medicines available in the national portfolio contributing to market sustainability . In conclusion, to successfully implement these strategies, EPSA strongly encourages continuous multi-stakeholder engagement, emphasising the value of consistent dialogue between healthcare professionals, patient associations, industry representatives and regulatory authorities. Maintaining open, ongoing communication enhances mutual understanding, identifies emerging threats and ensures timely implementation of remedial measures. For further information and national practices, refer to EPSAs Position Paper on Medicine Shortages 2024 attached.
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Response to Communication on the EU Stockpiling Strategy

9 May 2025

The European Pharmaceutical Students Association (EPSA) is a non-profit organisation representing over 100.000 pharmaceutical students within 44 member associations from 36 countries across Europe. The Association was established in 1978 and has headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. EPSAs mission is to actively engage at student and professional levels, bringing pharmacy, knowledge and students together while promoting personal development. The European Pharmaceutical Students Association (EPSA) welcomes the European Commissions initiative on the Critical Medicines Act, particularly the emphasis on establishing robust stockpiling strategies as a crucial measure to prevent medicine shortages and ensure secure access to critical medicines across Europe. EPSA, guided by insights from its 2024 Position Paper on Medicine Shortages, highlights the following points on stockpiling strategies: EPSA fully supports the proposal for a coordinated, EU-wide stockpiling strategy. Fragmented national stockpiling initiatives currently pose risks to the internal market, potentially creating further disparities in medicine availability among Member States. EPSA urges harmonised, transparent and effective EU coordination to avoid duplication of efforts and ensure equitable access to medicines across all Member States. EPSA stresses the importance of transparency in stockpile management. There must be a real-time monitoring system accessible to relevant stakeholders, including healthcare professionals, national authorities, pharmacies, and hospitals. This will ensure timely redistribution of resources to regions experiencing acute shortages. EPSA encourages using integrated digital solutions for data management and interoperability among Member States. EPSA emphasises the crucial role pharmacists play in managing medicine stocks and addressing shortages effectively. Pharmacists should have clear responsibilities and receive training in stockpile management, including inventory controls, risk assessments and crisis preparedness. EPSA recommends involving pharmacists and pharmacy students in the development and management of stockpiling strategies to enhance practical knowledge and workforce preparedness. EPSA supports the development of clear, evidence-based guidelines for stockpiling critical medicines at the EU and national levels. Such guidelines should outline procedures for creating and managing stocks, clearly specifying roles and responsibilities at all levels of the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors. EPSA also recommends that these guidelines include protocols for regularly reviewing and adjusting stockpiling strategies to meet evolving healthcare needs. EPSA supports the strategic selection and prioritisation of medicines included in stockpiles and endorses the purpose of European Union List of Critical Medicines as it serves as the foundational tool for this selection. EPSA urges the European Commission and EMA to continuously update this list based on accurate, timely data and input from healthcare professionals. EPSA commends the European Commission for taking crucial steps to address the pressing issue of medicine shortages through robust and coordinated EU stockpiling measures. EPSA stands ready to contribute proactively, ensuring that future pharmaceutical professionals are thoroughly prepared to support and effectively implement these important initiatives. For further information and national practices, refer to EPSAs Position Paper on Medicine Shortages 2024 attached.
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Response to Interim evaluation of the EU4Health Programme 2021-2027

9 Jan 2024

The European Pharmaceutical Students Association (EPSA) is an umbrella organisation representing over 100,000 pharmacy and pharmaceutical students from 35 European countries. EPSA is actively involved in various healthcare initiatives in Europe, including projects focused on public health, European elections, digital health, mental health, access to medicines, and pharmaceutical education. As a responsible organisation, we support the EU4Health programme 2021-2027 initiative and would like to provide feedback. Firstly, it is very much needed, and regular assessments should be done because the health field keeps evolving. The initiative could focus more on emergency health preparedness in the future and strive to help people have better access to healthcare and better opportunities overall. In terms of prevention of diseases such as cancer and others, lifestyle choices are important. Tobacco and alcohol consumption should be limited, and relevant public health campaigns should be initiated. Regarding digital health, EPSA conducted a survey among pharmaceutical students, revealing a need to improve digital health literacy and use. Therefore, it is recommended that efforts should be made to improve digital health education and encourage its application in healthcare. EPSA supports the implementation of the European Health Data Space legislation and having funding, as it was mentioned in the programme details. In conclusion, EPSA remains committed to supporting the healthcare industry and will continue participating in relevant initiatives to improve public health outcomes. As EPSA, we are open to collaboration and communication in order to highlight the opinions of pharmaceutical students who are a vital part of the future healthcare industry.
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Response to Recommendation for strengthened actions against antimicrobial resistance

24 Mar 2022

By the cross-border nature of AMR, The European Pharmaceutical Students’ Association (EPSA) believe that the EU has a particular responsibility to lead an ambitious, multisectoral response, and assist the implementation of National Action Plans. Training the current and future health workforce is of extreme importance. Consistent training in microbiology, antibiotic pharmacotherapy and drug development should be reinforced both on a student and professional level. Raising awareness of the challenges of AMR in faculties should be done through state-of-the-art education, and through multidisciplinary conferences allowing students to work on concrete approaches to fight AMR. Moreover, including the topic of pharmaceuticals in the environment in the pharmaceutical curricula is of utmost importance. Finally, to increase the exchange of good practices by students and professionals, enhancing mobility and creating working groups in European Universities could be a concrete and long term solution. Up to date continuing professional development activities on the AMR topic should be made available to healthcare professionals and encouraged through online courses, training, or other means. Moreover, patients' awareness of AMR will improve the accuracy of antibiotic use and patient’s compliance. EPSA believes that prevention is the key to combating the spread of infections and resistant bacteria since it addresses levels within health care, our community and the environment. To achieve this, it is necessary to provide broad and evidence-based education to the population, achieved with more frequent public health campaigns that actively involve the general population, students and healthcare professionals, on preventive measures such as vaccination, rapid diagnostic testing, but also on the safe disposal of medicines. Regarding animal health professionals and agri-food industries, targeted campaigns to these groups could help decrease the resistance linked to indirect antimicrobial use in humans. It is crucial to facilitate access to information on bacterial infections, antibiotics and antibiotics resistance, covering basic levels of microbiology knowledge and hygiene measures in the early stages of scholar education. The number of new antibiotics developed in the last years by the industry has dropped, while the incidence of new AMR bacteria has increased. Efforts should be made to ensure enhanced development of new innovative treatments and intensified research in more efficient diagnostic methods. EPSA believes that cooperation between public research institutions, governments, EU Institutions and the pharmaceutical industry is of utmost importance, which can be achieved with global research. Increasing the investment in biotechnology R&D in small and medium enterprises, to avoid bankruptcy and to create a competitive market, along with the study of an economic model to compensate for the delay in use and the low remuneration associated with short-term treatment, such as a remunerative price based on the costs avoided should be a priority. Moreover, universities, as a key driver in antimicrobial R&D, should especially ensure transparency and be given the tools to fulfil their work, with public financing and reglementary aid. EPSA believes that to strengthen Member States’ action against AMR mainly in the area of public health, it is important to guarantee: Consistent training in microbiology, antibiotic pharmacotherapy and drug development, and the inclusion of pharmaceuticals in the environment in the curricula Increased mobility and creation of good practices exchanges through multidisciplinary working groups in European Universities Infection prevention, especially hygiene, is to be respected and reinforced within the healthcare system, and public health campaigns focus on preventive measures Targeted campaigns and measures to reduce secondary use of antimicrobials Investment in R&D and make the antimicrobial market sustainable.
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Response to European Strategy for Universities

17 Nov 2021

The European Pharmaceutical Students’ Association (EPSA), representing more than 100,000 students in 37 European countries, welcomes the proposal of the EC to develop a strategy that supports Europe’s universities. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown both the need for a skilled and efficient healthcare workforce, and the lack of training healthcare professionals have on evolving topics and skills. Many factors related to the student’s condition and education have shown to limit the performance of the healthcare sector in Europe. EPSA believes that the first step towards equal rights for students across Europe is to define a standardized quality assurance process throughout Europe aiming to assess students’ condition (setting up KPI that take into account the student’s engagement in its training, their mental health assistance, interprofessional education and relations with professionals). This would represent a strong basis for the Universities to shift from traditional learning to more innovative techniques that take into consideration the individual needs of students. Indeed, Universities need to follow the transition Europe is undergoing today. Incorporating digital technologies in our current teaching methods cannot be a sustainable solution. Also, students report to acquire skills faster, from more interactive and concrete learning techniques. More conclusions from students can be found in our Methodology Booklet. These need to be acknowledged in the forthcoming Strategy, in order to reform Universities and make them the center for innovation and resource for professional development. Lifelong learning skills are also important for healthcare professionals. The Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe supports training in universities, in particular to enable the translation of research into drug development. Training is linked to the mobility of scientists in Europe, and to the number of teachers in European universities. The cultural mix in universities is possible through the development of ERASMUS + and European Universities. It acts as a link between various researchers and institutions from one country to another. Increasing mobility for health students in order to improve the exchange of good practices in the field of Antimicrobial Resistance, or to improve awareness and research on rare diseases would make the budget invested in these exchanges a real public health investment. A great number of students ask for more possibilities to perform thesis research abroad, summer school, and research projects. Universities being the primary source of research for less cost-effective medicines such as antibiotics or orphan drugs, it is important for the European Strategy for Universities to invest in the students and university researchers through their mobility and cooperation. The European Strategy for Universities should help develop a European research program carried out by academics and hospital-academics to facilitate the pursuit of multinational clinical studies as well as reinforce the promotion of existing platforms. Students seek for equal opportunities in education, therefore a unification of pharmaceutical curricula in Europe would set consistent standards in healthcare and would facilitate the mobility of professionals. The EU plays an important role in making the mutual recognition of studies possible whilst not interfering with the Member State’s role in educating its future healthcare workforce on their particularities within their health system, through the Professional Qualification Directives, to be kept up to date, and take into account the evolving changes and translate them into necessary skills and knowledge for EU’s professionals. EPSA insists on the importance of consulting student representatives when building the European Strategy for Universities. The consultation of the appropriate student groups is important as the skills, shape of curricula, and organisation of University are set differently.
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Response to Micro-credentials

17 Mar 2021

EPSA (European Pharmaceutical Students’ Association) welcomes the European Commission’s initiative that aims to build trust in micro-credentials and enhance their use, portability and recognition across the EU, emphasising the relevance of lifelong learning. We believe that micro-credentials should not replace formal, university-based education for healthcare students. However, they represent an extremely valuable tool that allows students, graduates and young professionals to get additional knowledge (hard and soft-skills) about their field and be better prepared for fast-changing market needs. The healthcare field is changing rapidly. A high number of new medicines are approved every year, new treatment guidelines are created, new regulations are entering into force while new public health challenges appear at a growing pace. Therefore, lifelong learning is a must in the healthcare field to keep up with all the changes. The traditional education approach tends to be heavy and slow for healthcare professionals that do not have time to spare. High-quality, standardised and learner-centred forms of provision of education that build on and complement the traditional qualifications represent a great way of keeping healthcare professionals up to date and help them to provide the best possible care to their patients. Another aspect that needs consideration is the diverse variety of jobs available for graduates within a certain field, which makes it harder to cover all the specifics of all job types within curricula. For example, besides community and hospital pharmacies, a pharmacy graduate can also work in the pharmaceutical industry (e.g. regulatory affairs, pharmacovigilance, R&D, quality assurance), policy, National Competent Authorities, regulatory bodies etc. It is hard to properly cover all of these areas in only 5 or 6 years of studies, having in mind that some of them need proper specialisation (e.g. clinical pharmacy). Complementary forms of provision of education are extremely helpful to allow graduates to develop in one of the areas less covered by the pharmaceutical curricula or when graduates change careers. EPSA acknowledged the importance of lifelong learning within the pharmacy sector a long time ago, and different initiatives encouraging students to become lifelong learners were implemented. In 2018, the EPSA Lifelong Learning Platform was released with the idea of mixing education with gamification and different updates have been made on the platform ever since (1). E-courses are currently under development with the aim of providing students with educational content complementary to their curricula, alongside endorsed certificates to showcase their willingness to learn and grow while raising their competitiveness in the job market. Another way in which we spread the importance of lifelong learning amongst our students is through the Training Project. For more than 10 years, EPSA Trainers deliver live and online Soft-Skills Trainings to pharmaceutical students focused on the skills needed by a future healthcare professional, as we believe that the Soft-Skills are as important as the hard-skills gained throughout the curricula and profession. Soft-skills are not something one learns once and uses for the rest of their career: one needs time, constant support and lifelong practice. The need for Soft-Skills became even more obvious after a survey EPSA did in 2018, where 93% of the respondents mentioned that they would like to have Soft-Skills included in their curricula (2). References: 1. https://epsa-online.org/LLeaP/ 2. https://www.epsa-online.org/methodology-booklet/#1596709229047-ac96fbd6-8eb5
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Response to Achieving the European Education Area

25 Aug 2020

The European Pharmaceutical Students’ Association (EPSA) is an umbrella organisation representing over 100,000 pharmacy and pharmaceutical students from 36 countries across Europe. The mission of EPSA is to actively engage at student and professional level, bringing pharmacy, knowledge and students together while promoting personal development. EPSA actively advocates for the development of harmonised pharmacy and healthcare education in order to ensure consistently high standards across Europe. Focusing on lifelong learning is the cornerstone for improving pharmacy education across Europe, as consistent education in all Member states contributes to the resilience of healthcare systems. As Next Generation EU should be invested into EU priorities, areas of education and training can be highlighted via the sustainable competences and digital skills that pharmaceutical students need in order to progress during their academic years and beyond. “eHealth and digitalisation” in healthcare is one of the most important topics for pharmacists. According to an EPSA survey from 2017, 63% of respondents evaluated their digital skills as average or under average, with approximately 75% of respondents having almost zero education on eHealth. EPSA’s Methodology Booklet is a project aimed to assist educators and policymakers to improve pharmaceutical education across Europe. In “Annex 1: Soft Skills” 2019, 93% of pharmaceutical students expressed their desire for more inclusion of Soft Skills in the European pharmaceutical curricula. Furthermore, they would prefer if Soft Skills education was incorporated into the early stages of their pharmaceutical education. The vast majority of pharmaceutical students expressed their needs to improve their Communication and Stress Management skills through formal education. It has been demonstrated that case-studies and role-playing combined with theoretical background provided through lectures are considered to be the optimal knowledge acquisition and teaching techniques for Soft Skills. As Educators play a central role in providing quality education and training, EPSA is now focusing on “Annexe 2: Teaching Methodology Techniques” to represent the students’ voices on how teaching can be improved across Europe. Mobility is an important factor in developing skills and competences and increasing the overall employability of pharmaceutical students across Europe. According to EPSA’s study with the Erasmus Student Network in 2018, 97% of the respondents believed that it is harder to take part in an Erasmus+ exchange for pharmaceutical students compared to other study programmes. Sufficient funding to ensure that students from all backgrounds can travel across Europe for educational purposes is needed, with continued support from EU-level funding eg. Erasmus+ KA:1. Differences in curricula across Europe may also limit the ability of pharmaceutical students to freely travel within the Erasmus+ student mobility project. EPSA is working alongside other stakeholders on the revision of the Recognition of Professional Qualifications [Directive 2013/55/EU] which lacks crucial competences, knowledge and skills for the training of pharmacists. Updating this Directive will ensure the standardisation of the pharmacy curricula and improve mobility opportunities for students, thus enabling pharmaceutical students to move easily between countries and reducing learning barriers. To conclude, EPSA calls upon the European Commission to strengthen education in the pharmaceutical field across Europe by: • Including student advisory positions in the working and expert groups for the European Education Area • Highlighting areas of education and training via the inclusion of sustainable competences and digital skills in pharmaceutical curricula • Focusing on lifelong learning strategies • Seeking provisional support from EU-funding for mobility purposes • Prioritising the revision of the Professional Qualifications Directive.
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