Danish Health Minister Sophie Løhde, who chaired an informal meeting of EU Health Ministers in Copenhagen on Tuesday 16 September, said that the EU needed to take steps to ensure better security of supply of essential medicines for European patients.
Negotiations on the pharmaceutical package are underway between the Council of the EU and the European Parliament, while the proposal on critical medicines is still being examined by the two institutions (see EUROPE 13708/5).
The discussion on preventing shortages was clear in the eyes of Health Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi: the joint purchasing models provided for under the Critical Medicines Act (CMA) “will allow Member States to join forces according to their needs and regional specificities, while creating a sustainable market for companies to supply medicines”, according to the Commissioner.
Don’t wait for the CMA. For Frank Vandenbroucke, the Belgian Minister for Health, it would be a mistake to wait for the implementation of the Critical Medicines Act. The Member States can now draw up genuine national plans with more clearly defined procurement rules. These should include criteria for security of supply and sustainability of production. According to him, “a consensus already exists”, but it is now time to take action.
At the same time, Belgium is calling for the production of essential medicines to be relocated to Europe, an objective that will be difficult to achieve without financial support, as the costs are higher than elsewhere.
Question of financing. The Belgian Minister pointed out that public health and care are not clearly identified in the European Commission’s proposal on the EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2028-2034. He proposed creating a specific section within the ‘competitiveness’ pillar dedicated to health and biotechnology in order to guarantee sufficient investment. Without appropriate funding, Europe will not be able to restore its strategic autonomy in the production of basic medicines, warned Mr Vandenbroucke.
Customs duties. Sophie Løhde said on Tuesday that European countries could not individually counter the US threat to impose 15% tariffs on European pharmaceutical products. She called for efforts to be focused on adopting key reforms in the health sector. “We cannot settle trade policy today within the Health Council”, she affirmed.
At the beginning of September, Olivér Várhelyi confirmed that any US taxes on European medicines would be capped at 15%, depending on the conclusions of Washington’s investigation into its imports.
By the end of 2025, Commissioner Várhelyi plans to present a number of legislative proposals, such as the Biotech Act and the revision of the Clinical Trials Regulation (see other news). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)