Medicines to remain with European Commission health directorate

The incoming European Commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, has had to backtrack over his earlier decision to transfer responsibility for medicines and the European Medicines Agency away from the commission’s health directorate to its industry and enterprise directorate.

The initial announcement in September led to widespread concern in the public health sector. It feared that industry and commercial interests would weigh more heavily than patient safety and medical considerations when future legislation or drug authorisation was being considered.1

The proposed transfer prompted high profile protests as members of the European Parliament, led by the British Labour member Glenis Willmott, non-governmental organisations, and …