20/01/2022 (Agence Europe) – On Thursday 20 January, the European Parliament approved by a very large majority (655 votes in favour, 31 against and 8 abstentions) the agreement it had reached last October with the Council of the European Union on the new prerogatives of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) (see EUROPE 12822/1). The EMA will be given new responsibilities for monitoring medicine stocks and developing medicines in the event of a health emergency. This is the first of the three texts in the “Health Union” package (see EUROPE 12600/24) to have been the subject of an interinstitutional agreement. See the legislative text: https://bit.ly/3IpIeA2 (MB)