Publications

To:

President Ursula von der Leyen
First Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans

Brussels, 29 March 2023

Dear President von der Leyen,

Today was the scheduled date for the publication of the revised pharmaceutical legislation, an important piece of legislation of the current College of Commissioners’ mandate.

Our organisations and the patients, consumers, and healthcare professionals we represent are deeply concerned by this new delay which seems justified neither by a case of force majeure, nor by exceptional circumstances.

Several of the organisations we represent wrote to the Commissioners in the past weeks following previous announcements of delays to ask for an adoption of the texts by the end of March (see attachments). Civil society organisations and members of the European Parliament had been reassured that publication would take place as planned.

This new postponement is jeopardising the adoption of a balanced, fair, and robust pharmaceutical framework putting patients at its centre. The important measures for European citizens’ health that the framework will bring forward cannot be delayed and it is furthermore not acceptable that private interests may prevail over democratic debate within the European Parliament and the Council.

We are therefore urging you to reschedule the adoption of the text for the next meeting of the College of Commissioners in April, so that the public and democratic debate can finally start. We also request an urgent meeting in order to discuss the reasons behind this new postponement. Full transparency is very much needed in the present circumstances.