by Peter O'Donnell
BRUSSELS, Oct 22 (APM) - The head of the new European Commission announced a partial U-turn on Wednesday on who will be in charge of policy on pharmaceuticals for the next five years - provoking whoops of joy from health campaigners.
President-elect Jean-Claude Juncker told the European Parliament that he would no longer transfer this sector to the industry portfolio, contrary to his original plan.
"Responsibility for medicines and pharmaceutical products will stay with the Directorate-General for Health," he told MEPs just before he sought their crucial confirmatory vote for his new team.
Instead, "the relevant policy will be developed jointly by Vytenis Andriukaitis and by Elzbieta Bienkowska", he said. Andriukaitis will be the commissioner for health and food safety, and Bienkowska will be in charge of industry and internal market.
Juncker made clear that his decision was a direct response to the appeals mounted by many MEPs and their political groups, after pressure was exerted by health campaigners who were horrified at his initial plans (APMMA 39709).
"I agree with you that medicines are not goods like any other," he told the parliament.
Shortly after Juncker's speech - which included some other modifications to his initial plans, notably in the energy and environment portfolios - the parliament gave its formal support to his new team, with 423 votes in favour, 209 against and 67 abstentions.
Now that the parliament has given its consent, the European council - heads of member state governments - will formally appoint the commission, at a summit in Brussels on October 23-24.
The new commission will therefore be able to take up office on schedule, on November 1.
"Now it is time to get down to work," said Juncker after the parliament's confirmation vote. "To kick-start economic recovery, create more and better jobs, address the plight of Europe's youth for a better future, protect the most vulnerable in our society and cope with the rapidly deteriorating geopolitical situation."
UK MEP Glenis Willmott, European spokesperson on health for the UK Labour party, said in a statement: "We are delighted the parliament has forced Mr Juncker to rethink his ill-advised decision to move responsibilities for medicines and medical devices to the industry and internal market commissioner."
Declaring "victory", she went on: "When it was first announced I was outraged - pharmaceuticals and medical devices are not just about making money; they are first and foremost about health."
The Party of European Socialists claimed that it was their pressure that had persuaded Juncker to change his mind. "We made it a condition of confirming his new commission," said Belgian socialist MEP Marc Tarabella.
He said it was essential that health related legislation - and control of the European Medicines Agency - should come under the health commissioner, not the industry commissioner.
Emma Woodford, interim secretary general at the European Public Health Alliance, which had played a prominent role in the campaign, told APM that Juncker's decision sent "a clear signal to the pharmaceutical and medical devices industry that their products are useful for improving health outcomes in the EU, and as such should be regulated by health bodies".
She said the decision "has set the scene perfectly for how medicines and health technology should be regulated in the EU, and strengthens the argument that health should be in all policies, but only when those policies are good for health."
The European consumer organisation BEUC said in a statement: "We are thrilled pharmaceuticals will remain part of the Commission’s health affairs. Today’s decision clearly signals consumers that their health comes before economic interests."
BEUC too had been a key player in the campaign. It said: "Our efforts have paid off. This is a true consumer victory.”
The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations took a carefully measured tone in its comments - after weeks of controversy over how far it had been implicated in Juncker's original plan.
"EFPIA welcomes Jean-Claude Juncker’s strong commitment to overcome silo mentalities and looks forward to the Directorate-General Health’s contribution to a comprehensive strategic agenda by the European Commission for the pharmaceutical industry in Europe," a spokesperson told APM.
The precise nature of Juncker's changes have yet to be revealed. Over recent weeks he has countered the demands from campaigners and MEPs by stressing that his initial plan provided adequately for joint responsibility of Andriukaitis and Bienkowska.
There is still some ambiguity about exactly who is in charge of what in his brief announcement on Wednesday too.
It is also notable that he made specific reference to Bienkowska's merits in making this announcement. She "showed her incredible talents in her hearing," he added.
Bienkowska is from Poland - an important country in the EU hierarchy - and Juncker will not want to offend a big member state by casually stripping responsibilities from its commissioner. As another aspect of the last-minute reshuffle, she has been given responsibility for space technology - but it appears that he wants her also to retain influence in health matters.
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