Critical Medicines

The EU Commission wants to improve the availability and security of supply of critical medicines in the EU by means of a Regulation. "The risk of supply bottlenecks for medicines that are essential for the treatment of serious diseases jeopardises healthcare in Europe. The EU's high dependence on imports for many important active ingredients and the highly fragmented supply chains are major sources of supply risk," says cep economist André Wolf, who assessed the Commission's proposal in a cepPolicyBrief.

In addition to financial support for strategic projects, the Commission is therefore also proposing mechanisms for cross-border procurement, resilience criteria and international partnerships. According to Wolf, the proposal basically sets the right priorities to improve the security of supply of critical medicines in the EU. However, its implementation is not without risks for competition, the market structure and compliance with international agreements. This applies in particular to the application of a "Made in EU" criterion in the public procurement of critical medicines. "The EU should specify the requirements for the design of this instrument and the conditions for its applicability," Wolf said in the cepPolicyBrief.

The effectiveness of the proposed measures depends crucially on their implementation by the member states. In general, they should develop a common basic understanding of how the topic of resilience should be taken into account in future in national areas of competence such as price regulation.