The global financial crisis has placed great cost pressures on European health systems. In the current economic and political climate it makes sense to evaluate, measure and benchmark the different approaches to financing healthcare, and aim to identify and adopt the best policies and practices for sustainable European healthcare systems. At this CHES Annual Lecture, Xavier Prats Monné, Director-General for Health and Food Safety at the European Commission talked about the economics of healthcare, and how the EU can be an added value in improving the efficiency and sustainability of member states’ health systems.