Foreign Policies

CoFoE: EMA Must Have Appropriate Institutional Framework,Says Duris Nicholsonova

Bratislava/Strasbourg, January 24 (TASR) – Experience so far has shown that it’s essential for the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to be provided with an appropriate institutional framework for dealing with emergencies, without improvisations, with a clear mandate and with a legislative framework, reads a statement by Slovak MEP Lucia Duris Nicholsonova provided by the European Parliament’s press department.

The EP on Thursday (January 20) approved a strengthening of the EMA’s powers. According to Duris Nicholsonova, this will enable the agency to work more independently. The EMA will also be “better prepared for the next health crisis” and will improve key aspects of transparency and the involvement of the parties concerned, stated the Slovak MEP.

Duris Nicholsonova said that the EMA will create a European platform for monitoring shortages of medicines, thus facilitating the collection of information on such shortfalls, supply and demand for medicines and medical devices.

“The Agency’s capacity to manage the availability of medicines and medical devices will also be strengthened, with the creation of two new steering groups on shortages of medicines and medical devices,” said Duris Nicholsonova.

“In terms of transparency and public scrutiny, one step forward will be the obligation to publish protocols on clinical tests during emergencies in the area of public health,” stated the MEP.

The future of health care in the EU is one of the issues dealt with by the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE) as part of which four citizens’ panels will present their proposals to the European Parliament. The third citizens’ panel included in its recommendations strengthening the powers of the European Medicines Agency and setting up an office to negotiate more favourable medicine prices for member states.

The recommendations of these panels will be included in the final report prepared by the CoFoE Executive Board in the spring of 2022.

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