Nicosia, Cyprus. Health Minister Neophytos Charalambides on Tuesday welcomed a deal between the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament on a new regulation to secure stocks and supply lines of critical medicines across the bloc.
Provisional agreement on the critical medicines act
Charalambides said patients should not have to worry about whether critical medicines such as antibiotics will be available at their pharmacy or hospital. He said the agreement would reduce vulnerabilities, diversify supply chains, and strengthen Europe’s capacity to produce critical medicines and their ingredients closer to home.
The Council of the EU and the European Parliament provisionally reached a joint position on the details of the planned critical medicines act.
Public procurement resilience requirements
According to the council, the agreement introduces an obligation for contracting authorities to apply resilience-related requirements in public procurement procedures for critical medicines.
Incentives for EU-based manufacturing
The council said the new rules aim to incentivise EU-based manufacturing of critical medicines and their active ingredients, reducing the EU’s dependency on third countries.
Joint procurement and lower threshold for Commission requests
The council said the rules will allow multiple EU member states to procure medicines jointly, strengthening their collective leverage.
The change includes reducing the minimum number of states required to submit a request to the European Commission for the commission to procure on their behalf from nine to five.
Transparency and solidarity in contingency stocks
The new rules will stipulate that any contingency stock requirements implemented by member states should be transparent and respect the principles of solidarity and proportionality.
Framework to prevent and address shortages
The health ministry said the new rules will create, for the first time, a comprehensive framework to prevent and address shortages of critical medicines.
How do you think the new EU rules will affect access to critical medicines in your country?
