On September 30, 2026, following World Heart Day, key European policymakers, researchers, health experts, and medical spa leaders gathered at the Press Club Brussels Europe for a high-level briefing hosted by the European Spas Association (ESPA).

The working breakfast culminated in a landmark milestone for the sector: the signing of the Brussels Declaration on European Medical Spas, Prevention and the Life Sciences Agenda.

Bridging Nature and the EU Life Sciences Strategy

As Europe faces mounting demographic challenges, including aging populations, rising chronic disease burdens, and growing mental health demands, this declaration calls for a decisive shift from reactive treatment to proactive prevention and lifestyle medicine.

Central to the declaration is the formal integration of balneology, climatotherapy, and natural health research into the European Commission’s Life Sciences Strategy (COM(2025)525 final), which aims to make Europe a global hub for life sciences. Rather than viewing natural therapies as alternatives to medicine, the signatures emphasise that medical spas act as partners of medicine, complementing biomedical innovations and easing the long-term strain on healthcare systems.

Core Pillars of the Brussels Declaration

The declaration outlines several critical commitments and strategic calls to action for European institutions and Member States:

• Natural Therapeutic Resources as Strategic Assets: Recognising Europe’s unique wealth of thermal and mineral waters, peloids, mofetta, and marine and mountain climates as scientifically validated, environmentally sustainable health drivers.
• Partners in Prevention and Longevity: Highlighting how medical spas deliver evidence-based prevention,rehabilitation, stress reduction, and healthy ageing with minimal side effects.
• Boosting Research & Innovation: Integrating spa facilities into major European research infrastructures and networks (such as clinical and data-harmonisation networks) to foster studies in water biochemistry, microbiome modulation, and functional recovery.
• Protecting Water and Climate Resources: Urging the safeguarding of thermal spring catchment areas, ensuring sustainable resource extraction, and supporting historic spa towns as models of circular resource use.
• Policy Integration: Calling on the European Parliament, Commission, and Council to embed medical spas into broader EU frameworks like EU4Health, the EU Cancer Plan, the Mental Health Initiative, and the Green Transition.

A Shared Responsibility for Future Generations

The signing of the Brussels Declaration marks a pivotal step in positioning medical spas not just as tourism destinations, but as vital pillars of European health security, rural development, and economic resilience. By uniting science with nature, Europe has a unique opportunity to keep citizens healthier for longer.