Date: Wednesday 6 March 2024
Time: 9:00am – 11:00am CET
Location: Silversquare Europe, Square de Meeûs 35, 1000 Brussels, Belgium

At this event, ILC hosted an expert roundtable discussion exploring mental health policy and best-practice in the EU.

Across Europe, we know that around one in 20 EU citizens are affected by anxiety or depressive disorders. Since COVID-19, there has been a sharp increase: one Eurobarometer survey in June 2023 found that 46% of the EU population had encountered feelings of depression or anxiety during the 12 months prior.

Resolving the challenges associated with mental health conditions is crucial to ensure Europeans live longer and happier lives. ILC is currently undertaking a global project that aims to generate a debate among key policy and health stakeholders on the importance of addressing mental health across our lives.

As part of this project, we want to speak with experts on mental health to examine how we can forge stronger policies. During this roundtable discussion, we discussed:

• The policy opportunities over the next six months during the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
• The long-term policy goals of the EU during the 2024-29 European Parliament and Commission.
• Recommendations for the Belgian Presidency and European Commission to consider in their policy ambitions on mental health.

This event was made possible through a grant from Boehringer Ingelheim.