Consumer-centered EU pharmaceutical strategy

Medicines are essential to fulfil everyone’s right to health. They help prevent diseases, get people cured and improve their quality of life. However, European consumers face barriers in accessing treatments and therapeutic innovations, depriving them from living healthier lives, even more so since COVID-19 hit. The European Commission’s initiative on the Pharmaceutical Strategy has the potential to lift those barriers, provided it is ambitious enough.

BEUC calls for the EU Pharmaceutical Strategy to have the level of ambition that is necessary to ensure that everyone in Europe has timely access to safe, effective and affordable treatment. This should be the overarching goal of the future Strategy. 

In this paper, we make concrete calls for action in the areas of medicines research and development, marketing authorisation, drug availability and affordability. BEUC policy recommendations are informed by reports from its member organisations on longstanding challenges faced by consumers, many of which have been exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic.