The European Parliament’s Committee on Public Health was due to adopt its position on the proposal concerning critical medicinal products early on Monday evening (15 December).
The European Parliament plenary vote on the report by Tomislav Sokol (EPP, Croatian) on this dossier is scheduled for January 2026, while the Council of the EU recently adopted its position on critical medicinal products (see EUROPE 13764/1).
The rapporteur negotiated compromises with other political groups to strengthen the original proposal on several aspects, including the establishment of a procurement procedure for joint procurement between the European Commission and at least five Member States, for critical medicinal products and medicinal products of common interest (the EU Council deleted the article in question in its position).
Contingency stocks. According to the compromises, measures relating to security of supply applied in one or more Member States must not have a negative impact on the availability of critical medicinal products of common interest in the other Member States. Where Member States impose contingency stock requirements on economic operators, they must notify the European Commission and the European Medicines Agency (EMA). Common standards may include the establishment of maximum quantitative thresholds for contingency stocks.
The amendments confirm the creation of a Critical Medicines Coordination Group. The Member States, the EMA, the European Commission and representatives from patient organisations and healthcare professional organisations would be members of this group.
Link to the compromises: https://aeur.eu/f/k07 (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)