Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-10-22-Speech-2-022"
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"en.20021022.1.2-022"2
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"Mr President, the – apparently essential – aim of the proposals for a regulation and directive put forward by the Commission is to strengthen the short-term competitiveness of pharmaceutical companies.
It is proposed, in particular, to extend the length of time that clinical data is to be protected, to increase the flexibility of and accelerate the market authorisation procedure and, above all, to lift the ban on pharmaceutical companies advertising prescription-only medicines to the general public.
What is essentially being proposed is the model used in the United States, where this ban was lifted in 1997. Based on an exclusively market-driven approach, these proposals consider medicinal products as an everyday, consumer article, almost a product like any other. This approach is combined with that which is increasingly common in international trade negotiations, which seek to subject health and education to the laws of the market within the framework of the liberalisation of services.
In the light of this deteriorating situation, a group was set up at European level, bringing together consumer organisations, family organisations, patients’ associations, insurance companies, and health insurance bodies. The ‘Europe and Medicines’ group has been working to provide information and clarification to European bodies and governments.
This action, which enabled us to get a better feel for the economic, political and ethical challenges of this dossier, has delivered results. Due to this, the majority of members of the Committee on the Environment approved the reports which are not in line with the Commission’s approach and I welcome, in particular, the fact that the reports are opposed to the advertising of medicinal products.
My group, in conjunction with the ‘Europe and Medicines’ group, will pursue its efforts to have a responsible policy applied throughout the European Union, one which improves public health, therapeutic progress and consumer protection. In order to do this, three principles should be strengthened in the European medicines regulation system: harmonisation between countries in order to guarantee evaluation and monitoring of a high quality, the independence of institutions responsible for medicinal products, and the transparency of the system for all."@en1
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