Europe cannot afford to repeat the mistakes revealed by the pandemic.

Dependence on fragile global supply chains and the erosion of domestic pharmaceutical production have left patients and health systems exposed. The Critical Medicines Act is a necessary step to rebuild resilience, strengthen European manufacturing capacity, and ensure reliable access to essential medicines. Ahead of the plenary vote, ECR Shadow Rapporteur Aurelijus Veryga commented on the file on the sidelines in Strasbourg, saying:

“The Critical Medicines Act could and should become one of the most important decisions of this parliamentary term. It would be one of the few genuinely learned lessons from the pandemic and from the destruction of our own industry.

“In order to be properly prepared to respond to potential health crises and medicine shortages caused by manufacturing and supply disruptions, it is essential to invest in European pharmaceutical manufacturing and supply security capacities.”

Veryga stressed that the report delivers concrete improvements for procurement resilience and patient access, particularly for smaller Member States and those facing persistent shortages.

“The inclusion of medicines of common interest is particularly important for smaller countries and their patients, especially in the field of rare disease medicines. It is unjustifiable that today patients’ access to life-saving treatment still depends not on whether a medicine for their condition exists, but on the country in which they live”, he said.

Veryga also welcomed the broad cross-group agreement achieved on the file. He said:

“This document could be an excellent example of consensus, where political group and ideological lines are transcended in order to protect what is most important and most precious: human life.”

The Critical Medicines Act establishes a European framework to strengthen the availability and security of supply of critical medicinal products, reduce strategic dependencies, support EU-based pharmaceutical manufacturing, and improve access to medicines of common interest, including treatments for rare diseases. It introduces measures to reinforce supply-chain resilience, promote diversified, multi-winner procurement, facilitate strategic investment in manufacturing capacity, and enable voluntary cooperation between Member States on procurement and stockpiling.