Communication on Single Market in Pharmaceuticals agreed by Commission
The European Commission has agreed a communication on the single market in the pharmaceutical industry. Currently, the Member States have exclusive responsibility in the healthcare sector and different price regimes to control health costs. This has limited past efforts to establish a single market in the pharmaceutical industry, which employs 71 000 people in research and development in the European Union. Now the European Commission is aiming to agree on a strategy to harmonise the pharmaceutical market in Europe The Communication outlines three possible approaches for the pharmaceutical market in the future and considers the relative merits of maintaining the status quo, full integration, and a middle way, reinforcing co-operation between Member States and health care providers. Also discussed in the Communication are possible strategies for stimulating a more competitive generics market, reducing the time between product approval and sale, measures to improve global transparency, the implications of global electronic commerce, and the importance of a dialogue between current Member States, applicant countries and the pharmaceutical industry. The Communication will form the basis of discussions at the third Round Table on completing the Single Market in Pharmaceuticals, to be held in Paris, France, on 7 December 1998.