The European Commission's Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) has published a handbook setting out how EU-level procurement of medical countermeasures can be organised during health crises. The Commission Staff Working Document consolidates existing legal mechanisms into a common framework rather than creating new purchasing powers.
The first route allows the Commission to act as wholesaler. It can buy and stock countermeasures itself and then resell or donate them to Member States or selected partner organisations. Suppliers therefore contract with the Commission as purchaser, rather than relying on orders placed directly by individual countries.
Under joint procurement, the Commission establishes a framework contract on behalf of participating countries, which subsequently order and purchase the countermeasure. Participation is voluntary and non-exclusivity is normally the default, allowing countries to negotiate separately in parallel. HERA notes that this can weaken collective negotiating leverage where manufacturers can pursue competing national and EU-level discussions.
The third route allows participating Member States to mandate the Commission to act as their central purchasing body. Under the Emergency Framework Regulation, this requires activation of the relevant emergency procurement measure and a framework agreement between the Commission and participating states. HERA identifies the COVID-19 vaccine model as the main precedent, where exclusivity prevented parallel national negotiations and concentrated purchasing leverage at EU level.
The underlying procurement powers have developed incrementally since COVID-19 and were previously spread across separate legal instruments. The handbook now gives manufacturers a clearer view of the potential contracting structure in a future crisis. Depending on the route selected, suppliers could face a direct Commission buyer, multiple national purchasers under a common framework, or a central EU negotiation with restricted parallel national contracting.
Source: European Commission, Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority
Link: Handbook for EU Crisis Procurement of Medical Countermeasures
Date: 9 September 2026
