The draft bill, adopted with 27 votes in favour, one against and eight abstentions, aims to ensure a high level of public health protection for EU citizens by reducing the EU’s dependency on third countries and boosting the competitiveness of its pharmaceutical sector.

Strategic projects and access to dedicated funding

The draft text supports the creation of industrial “strategic projects’” in the EU to create, modernise and improve manufacturing capacity for critical medicines or their base substances. To promote a coordinated EU approach and to ensure legal certainty for project promoters, MEPs want the Commission to adopt guidelines for the assessment of projects.

The report requires the EU, including through regional funding, and EU member states to prioritise financial support for strategic projects. MEPs also want a dedicated “critical medicines security fund” to be established within the EU’s next multiannual financial framework (MFF).

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