High level pharmaceuticals group established
The healthcare provided by and the competitiveness of the European pharmaceutical industry topped the agenda on 26 March when Erkki Liikanen and David Byrne, European Commissioners for Enterprise and information society and health and consumer protection respectively met key players in the industry. It was agreed that a new high level group, including the Commissioners, members of the private sector and Member State ministers, would be established. The group will meet three times in the next year, addressing issues and setting objectives in the industry and presenting a report to Commission president Romano Prodi in April 2002. The next meeting is planned for June, but has yet to be confirmed. A Commission spokesperson confirmed that research and its objectives in the pharmaceutical industry could feature on the group's agenda. The move follows on from a commitment made at the competitiveness round table meeting in December last year when the Commission pledged to work with key players in industry to reconcile the needs of industry and patients. Mr Liikanen expressed the desire that progress can be made without the need for the Commission to take legislative action, with general agreement on policy approaches being agreed by all in the group.