On April 25th 14 Members of the Patients and Consumers Working Party (PCWP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) sent a letter the Health Commissioner, the President of the European Council and the European Commission Chief Negotiator on the departure of the United Kingdom with their requirements for the re-location of EMA. EFA was one of the signatories.
The European Medicines Agency is the only EU agency based in the United Kingdom. It is also one of the most successful of the 44 EU agencies regarding the involvement of civil society in its activities.
Due to the United Kingdom decision to leave the European Union, the EMA needs to be re-localised to another Member State. While many are in the race to host the agency, the 14 PCWP members recommend that a new location facilitates the involvement of patients and consumers. This implies a Member State that fully respects the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The host member state should guarantee the highest standards of protection for all persons, including non-discrimination as set out in the Charter; it should apply the solidarity principles of the Charter with respect to all people regardless of their citizenship status including refugees and asylum seekers; and it should respect fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression, the press, academic and civil society organisations, and protection of whistle-blowers.
The EMA increasingly needs to be open to the wider communities of pharma, biotech, clinical research, academic and clinical networks, civil society etc. and larger conferences and workshops will be organised. The new location should ensure easy and economic travel, for a large number of people to attend conferences.
The full letter is available here.