On Monday 27 September, negotiators from the European Parliament and the Council of the EU will meet for a first inter-institutional (‘trilogue’) meeting on the proposed revision of the mandate of the ECDC (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control).
MEPs adopted their position on the text last week (see EUROPE 12792/12), while a compromise was agreed in July by the EU Council (see EUROPE 12768/1).
On Thursday 30 September, the two institutions will also continue their discussions on the draft regulation to strengthen the role of the European Medicines Agency (see EUROPE 12600/24).
An initial political trilogue on this text was held in July this year (see EUROPE 12752/15). It was essentially an opportunity for the negotiators to detail their demands, before proceeding to technical discussions.
According to several European sources, the political trilogue scheduled for next Thursday could result in an agreement.
However, some issues remain to be resolved, including the creation of a database with which to monitor the supply of medicines.
The European Parliament, which initiated this proposal, would like this database to be functional not only during public health emergencies, but also under normal circumstances. A difficult claim to make to the EU Council.
The scope of the negotiated text is in fact limited to crisis situations (see EUROPE 12757/2) and the EU27 have generally shown little inclination to delegate their competences in the field of health outside of exceptional situations. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)