Updating the new industrial strategy – Impacts on the health industrial ecosystem (Supplementary opinion) - Related links

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European Commission

Background

Dedicated websites and additional information

Publications

  • A European health union: A pharmaceutical strategy for Europe (2020). This factsheet presents data about the pharmaceutical sector of the EU, current sector problems that the Commission wishes to address and the ways to achieve it.
  • Pharmaceutical strategy for Europe: Final report, replies to the public consultation (2020). The European Commission published a public consultation on the Pharmaceutical Strategy - Timely Patient Access to Affordable Medicines, which was available for stakeholders to comment on and share their views from 16 June 2020 to 15 September 2020. This report presents a neutral, over-arching review of the replies received. Section 2 presents the methodology including an overview of the contributions. Section 3 presents an analysis of replies to the survey questions while Section 4 presents a synthesis of position papers received with a focus on additional views and recommendations not already expressed in reply to the survey. The core of the report lies in Section 3 where the analysis is reported by survey question. An overall analysis is followed by an analysis by relevant stakeholder group with attention to divergent views and opinions as well as recommendations for the forthcoming EU Pharmaceutical Strategy.
  • Update on progress and implementation: European Union strategic approach to pharmaceuticals in the environment (2020). In March 2019, the Commission adopted the European Union Strategic Approach to Pharmaceuticals in the Environment (PiE) which focuses on actions to address the environmental implications of all phases of the lifecycle of (both human and veterinary) pharmaceuticals, from design and production through use to disposal. In the context of the European Green Deal and the COVID-19 pandemic, the topic is now even more relevant (see also Chapter 2). The EU Strategic Approach to PiE received strong backing from Council and Parliament, as well as from stakeholders. Complementary to the Pharmaceutical Strategy, which also includes an environmental sustainability angle, it is time to reflect on what has been so far achieved in implementing the March 2019 EU Strategic Approach to PiE. This document aims to show the overall progress made on the actions of the EU Strategic Approach to PiE so far (Chapter 3), assesses progress per action (Chapter 4) and proposes further follow-up.

European Parliament

  • Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on EU industries (2021, ITRE committee).
  • EU imports and exports of medical equipment (2020). The crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic has, with tragic consequences, brought to the fore the fact that the European Union (EU) is dependent on non-EU sources for medical equipment such as personal protection equipment (including masks) and artificial respiratory equipment, as well as other products needed in the fight against the virus. In response to shortages, Member States have taken initiatives to produce and distribute medical equipment and the EU has put in place a number of coordinated responses, such as the creation of the rescEU stockpile of emergency medical equipment, and the restriction of exports of personal protective equipment outside the European Union. A mapping of EU trade in four categories of product – pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, personal protection and medical supplies – shows that, in all four categories, as few as five trade partners provide about 75 % of EU imports. Exports are more diffuse, with five partners receiving approximately half of EU exports. In 2019, the EU was a net exporter of medical products in all four categories, with pharmaceutical products representing most of its trade surplus of medical products. The weaker domain is personal protection products. The main EU import partners are Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States, China, and Singapore, with the first three appearing among the top four countries in all categories. Additional insights into the value chains of chemical and pharmaceutical sector production in the EU's top five import partners suggest that China and other countries provide a far larger share in raw materials and manufacturing than direct imports suggest. These results imply that the production of medical products is far more scattered than direct import numbers would suggest.
  • Report on a New Industrial Strategy for Europe (2020)

Other EESC documents

Stakeholder groups