Lisbon, 20 September 2025 — Representatives from WONCA Europe (WE), the WE Working Party on Policy Advocacy (WP PA), and the European Union of General Practitioners (UEMO) met to discuss continued progress towards the formal recognition of Family Medicine as a medical specialty across Europe. The meeting brought together WE President Thomas Frese, WE president Elect Ioanna Tsiligianni, WE Honorary Secretary Aaron Poppleton, WP PA members Sara Ares and María Pilar Astier, and UEMO President Tiago Villanueva and UEMO Vice-President Peter Holden, alongside other member delegates.
Participants welcomed the substantial progress achieved in recent months, noting that developments over the past half-year have outpaced those seen in previous decades. Updates were shared on recent WE WP PA meetings with the European Parliament, the European Commission (DG SANTE and DG EMPL), and UEMO, focusing on raising awareness of the central role of family doctors within European healthcare systems.
Despite these advances, participants highlighted the limited understanding among policymakers of the family doctor’s pivotal role in community health. Discussions with DG EMPL emphasised the Commission’s focus on employment mobility.
UEMO reaffirmed its close collaboration with UEMS (the European Union of Medical Specialists), which expressed interest in the development of a European curriculum for Family Medicine. UEMS would likely serve as the accrediting body for such a curriculum, and Tiago Villanueva is expected to meet with them this autumn to advance discussions.
WONCA Europe and UEMO agreed to approve a joint statement on the need for formal recognition of the specialty, and to support national GP/Family Medicine organisations in endorsing the initiative.
The participants closed the meeting with a renewed sense of momentum and collaboration, underscoring that the past months have marked a turning point in the long-term effort to achieve pan-European recognition of Family Medicine as a distinct and vital medical specialty.