The European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) discussed, on Wednesday 26 May, the draft report by the MEP Dolors Montserrat (EPP, Spain) on the new Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe (see EUROPE 12609/10).
The different political groups welcomed the draft report - detailed in our columns when it was published at the end of April (see EUROPE 12710/9) - and considered it a good basis for further work.
However, several groups insisted - and promised amendments - on the issue of transparency. Socialist coordinator Alessandra Moretti (Italy) said her group plan to ask for more guarantees on the accessibility of information on the whole production chain of medicines as well as on the transparency and traceability of public funding.
The Greens/EFA and The Left are also expected to support amendments to this effect. They will advocate, as well, for greater transparency on the reasons for shortages, insisted Tilly Metz (Greens/EFA, Luxembourg) and on the prices of medicines to prevent them from being resold at excessive prices, stressed Kateřina Konečná (The Left, Czech Republic).
Some groups, notably S&D and Renew Europe, are also expected to table amendments on the promotion of research. “Creating a good environment for innovation and research is a priority for me”, said Linea Søgaard-Lidell from Denmark, coordinator for Renew Europe.
For the ID and ECR groups, the focus will be on the EU’s strategic autonomy and on the issue of supply from third countries, especially raw materials.
Andrey Slabakov (ECR, Bulgaria) stressed the importance of strengthening the control of these raw materials in order to guarantee a “reliable supply”, as some products are sometimes “unusable”. He also insisted on the relocation of production to Europe, but disagreed with further European integration in the field of health.
This increased integration is described as “necessary” in the report, in particular to strengthen the resilience of national health systems to cross-border threats. No other group questioned this.
MEPs will have until 1 June to table their amendments. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)