On Thursday 14 December 2021, MEPs adopted the agreement between the European Parliament and the European Council on the regulation establishing a European Health Technology Assessment (HTA). This legislation will, among all, strengthen cooperation between the 27 Member States on the assessment of health technologies, i.e. medicines and certain medical devices. We have just taken another step towards the creation of a European Medicines Union and thus towards a European Health Union.
Véronique Trillet-Lenoir, Shadow Rapporteur for the Renew Europe group, fought for this regulation to be largely in the interest of patients and to allow them to benefit from innovative and efficient health products.
This new regulatory framework makes it possible to:
- Encouraging innovation in health technologies;
- Ensuring fairer and faster access to innovative health technologies for all 27 Member States;
- Improving the convergence of health systems in the European Union;
- Ensuring greater involvement of patient organisations and health professionals;
- Enable better pooling of expertise between Member States.
The European Parliament also advocated during the negotiations for a more ambitious timetable for the implementation of the regulation, over 5 years instead of 8 as proposed by the European Council, and according to the categories of treatment. He won his case and the first joint evaluations (on cancer treatments and vaccines, among others) will take place 3 years after the adoption of this regulation.
"This regulation is a full part of the virtuous circle that prefigures the Europe of medicines: common European evaluation, joint purchasing, concerted negotiation of the right price, reinforced production and strategic reserve to fight against shortages. The first priority is obviously the health of all patients in Europe," concluded the MEP.
