European Commission abandons plan to transfer control of pharma products to Industry Commissioner

Jean-Claude Juncker, President-elect of the European Commission, has backtracked on his decision to return control of medicines and pharma products to the Industry Commissioner. The policies regarding health products will remain under the auspices of the Health Commissioner, according to reports from European consultancy EurActiv.

Members of European Parliament (MEPs) and representatives from NGOs had protested vehemently about the move from Health Commissioner to Industry Commissioner, as well as Mr Juncker’s proposition to link the European Medicines Agency with the policy on health products in the Directorate General for Enterprise and Industry. It was a policy proposition that many met with criticism, not least due to the threats to clinical trial data transparency that it would engender.

Health products have been in the purview of the Directorate General for Health and Consumers (DG SANCO) since 2009.