03/10/2018 (Agence Europe) – The European Parliament is ready to start negotiations with the Council on health technology assessment. Not surprisingly, the European Parliament has adopted the report prepared by Soledad Cabezón Ruiz (S&D, Spanish) on behalf of the Environment Committee by 576 votes to 56 with 41 abstentions. The text calls for mandatory joint evaluations for medicines and certain medical devices / in vitro devices "considered as major innovations with potentially significant impacts on public health or health care systems" (see EUROPE 12108). It also amends the legal basis of the legislative proposal to add, in addition to Article 114 proposed by the Commission (internal market), Article 168(4) (public health). It should be noted that inter-institutional negotiations are not expected to start until next year; the Austrian Presidency does not plan to complete the dossier. (SPj)