Sittings · Document

DRAFT OPINION (COM(2025)0102 – C100048/2025 – 2025/0102(COD)) 2025-09-05

On the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying a framework for strengthening the availability and security of supply of critical medicinal products as well as the availability of, and accessibility of, medicinal products of common interest, and amending Regulation (EU) 2024/795

Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety · Rapporteur: Michele Picaro

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SHORT JUSTIFICATION

The amendments proposed by the rapporteur in his opinion on the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down a framework for strengthening the availability and security of supply of critical medicinal products, as well as the availability and accessibility of medicinal products of common interest, and amending Regulation (EU) 2024/795, aim to boost EU manufacturing of critical medicines by fast-tracking permits, simplifying environmental assessments, and supporting strategic projects. The proposal also promotes better coordination among Member States and introduces limited reporting obligations.

To avoid unintended disruptions resulting from overlapping environmental and chemical legislation, a balanced, data-driven approach is needed, one that safeguards the availability of medicines while upholding high environmental standards. The rapporteur believes that coordination between pharmaceutical, environmental, and chemical legislation is essential to prevent negative impacts on patient access to medicines and to ensure the sustainability and competitiveness of the European pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors.

To ensure transparency, all data related to environmental assessments, authorisations, and planning should be easily accessible (including online) and presented clearly through a centralised portal. These procedures must be efficient, time-bound, and must not create undue financial or administrative burdens, aligned with international conventions.

Rapid timelines for activating strategic projects should be maintained, especially when urgent action is needed to respond to shortages of critical medicines.

AMENDMENTS

The Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety submits the following to the Committee on Public Health, as the committee responsible:

Amendment 1

Proposal for a regulation

Recital 4 a (new)

Text proposed by the Commission

Amendment

(4a) The Union’s environmental policies impose necessary sustainability measures but may unintentionally burden pharmaceutical manufacturers, making Union-based production less competitive. Stricter regulations on emissions or on wastewater treatment, or restrictions on key substances, could increase production costs or force companies to relocate outside the Union, exacerbating medicine shortages. To ensure that the Union remains competitive while safeguarding patient access to critical medicinal products, this Regulation should establish a balanced and coherent regulatory framework. A data-driven approach should be promoted to enable environmental policies to be fine-tuned in a manner that preserves the availability of medicines without compromising high environmental and sustainability standards.

Or. en

Amendment 2

Proposal for a regulation

Recital 4 b (new)

Text proposed by the Commission

Amendment

(4b) Environmental and chemical legislation, while essential to public and environmental health, may inadvertently impact the continuity of supply of critical medicinal products or medicinal products of common interest through an increased regulatory burden or production constraints. To ensure the uninterrupted availability of such medicinal products, it is necessary to assess the cumulative impacts of relevant environmental and chemical legislative frameworks on manufacturing and supply capacities. This Regulation should therefore support a coordinated assessment of such impacts to ensure minimal disruption to critical medicinal products’ availability.

Or. en

Amendment 3

Proposal for a regulation

Recital 19

Text proposed by the Commission

Amendment

(19) The production of medicinal products has environmental implications and may negatively impact not only the environment itself but also human health. The environmental assessments and authorisations required under Union law are an integral part of the permit-granting process for strategic projects and an essential safeguard to ensure negative environmental impacts are prevented or minimised. However, to ensure that permit-granting processes for strategic projects are predictable and timely, it should be possible to streamline the required assessments and authorisations by the relevant authority, while not lowering the level of environmental protection.

Or. en

Amendment 4

Proposal for a regulation

Recital 24

Text proposed by the Commission

Amendment

(24) Given that public authorities or entities are the principal buyers of medicinal products for the inpatient sector and that the public procurement of medicinal products is a powerful tool to improve security of supply and the availability and accessibility of other medicinal products of common interest, it is necessary to establish rules that require the use of the procurement requirements referring to Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT) that take into account the supply security and availability considerations. Procurement requirements based on such considerations should include stockholding obligations, a number of diversified suppliers, state of the art monitoring of supply chains, their transparency to the contracting authority and contract performance clauses on timely delivery and measures in case of non-timely delivery.

(24) Given that public authorities or entities are the principal buyers of medicinal products for the inpatient sector and that the public procurement of medicinal products is a powerful tool to improve security of supply and the availability and accessibility of other medicinal products of common interest, it is necessary to establish rules that require the use of the procurement requirements referring to Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT) that take into account the supply security and availability considerations. Procurement requirements based on such considerations should include an appropriate and predictable mix and weighting of qualitative selection, including quality of the medicinal products, measured by patient impact and clinical value, environmental sustainability, stockholding obligations, a number of diversified suppliers, state of the art monitoring of supply chains, their transparency to the contracting authority and contract performance clauses on timely delivery and measures in case of non-timely delivery.

Or. en

Amendment 5

Proposal for a regulation

Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 13

Text proposed by the Commission

Amendment

(13) ‘innovative manufacturing process’ means a novel manufacturing process and technology or novel application of an existing technology, including, but not limited to, decentralised manufacturing, continuous manufacturing, yield improvements or other chemistry or biotechnology process that contribute to increasing the level of security, energy efficiency and environmental performance of the production, Artificial Intelligence, platform techniques, 3D manufacturing;

Or. en

Amendment 6

Proposal for a regulation

Article 12 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1

Text proposed by the Commission

Amendment

A project promoter may request, where the obligation to assess the effects on the environment arises simultaneously from two or more of Council Directive 92/43/EEC15 , Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council16 , Directive 2001/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council17 , Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council18 , Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council19 , Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council20 , Directive 2011/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council21 or Directive 2012/18/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council22 , that a coordinated or joint procedure fulfilling the requirements of those Union legislative acts are applied.

A project promoter may request, where the obligation to assess the effects on the environment arises simultaneously from two or more of Council Directive 92/43/EEC15 , Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council16 , Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council18 , Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council19 , Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council20 , Directive 2011/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council21 or Directive 2012/18/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council22 , that a coordinated or joint procedure fulfilling the requirements of those Union legislative acts are applied. The application of the joint or coordinated procedure shall not affect the content or quality of the environmental impact assessment.

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15 Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (OJ L 206, 22.7.1992, p. 7, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/1992/43/oj).

16 Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy (OJ L 327, 22.12.2000, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2000/60/oj).

17 Directive 2001/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 June 2001 on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment (OJ L 197, 21.7.2001, p. 30, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2001/42/oj).

18 Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on waste and repealing certain Directives (OJ L 312, 22.11.2008, p. 3, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2008/98/oj).

19 Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2009 on the conservation of wild birds (OJ L 20, 26.1.2010, p. 7, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2009/147/oj).

20 Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010 on industrial emissions (integrated pollution prevention and control) (OJ L 334, 17.12.2010, p. 17, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2010/75/oj).

21 Directive 2011/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (OJ L 26, 28.1.2012, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2011/92/oj).

22 Directive 2012/18/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2012 on the control of major-accident hazards involving dangerous substances, amending and subsequently repealing Council Directive 96/82/EC (OJ L 197, 24.7.2012, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2012/18/oj).

Or. en

Amendment 7

Proposal for a regulation

Article 12 – paragraph 2

Text proposed by the Commission

Amendment

2. Member States shall ensure that the competent authorities issue the reasoned conclusion referred to in Article 1(2), point (g)(iv), of Directive 2011/92/EU on the environmental impact assessment within 45 days of receiving all necessary information pursuant to Articles 5, 6 and 7 of that Directive and after completing the consultations referred to in Articles 6 and 7 of that Directive.

Or. en

Amendment 8

Proposal for a regulation

Article 12 – paragraph 5 a (new)

Text proposed by the Commission

Amendment

5a. Member States shall ensure that their competent authorities and other authorities designated pursuant to Article 6(1) of Directive 2011/92/EU have a sufficient number of qualified staff and sufficient financial, technical and technological resources necessary to fulfil their obligations under this Article.

Or. en

Amendment 9

Proposal for a regulation

Article 12 a (new)

Text proposed by the Commission

Amendment

Article 12a

Coordination with environmental and chemical legislation

The Commission and Member States shall ensure that the application of this Regulation is coordinated with environmental and chemical legislation to prevent unintended restrictions on the manufacturing and availability of critical medicinal products.

Where such legislation is likely to create substantial barriers to the continued production or availability of critical medicinal products, the Commission shall conduct a coordinated impact assessment and consult with the Critical Medicines Coordination Group to propose mitigating actions including possible regulatory proposals.

Or. en

Amendment 10

Proposal for a regulation

Article 13 – paragraph 1

Text proposed by the Commission

Amendment

1. National, regional and local authorities responsible for preparing plans, including zoning, spatial plans and land use plans, shall consider including in such plans, where appropriate, provisions for the development of Strategic Projects, as well as the necessary infrastructure. To facilitate the development of strategic projects, Member States shall ensure that all relevant spatial planning data is available.

Or. en

Amendment 11

Proposal for a regulation

Article 13 – paragraph 2

Text proposed by the Commission

Amendment

2. Where plans including provisions for the development of strategic projects are subject to an assessment pursuant to Directive 2001/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and pursuant to Article 6(3) of Directive 92/43/EEC, those assessments shall be combined. Where applicable, the combined assessment shall also address the impact on potentially affected water bodies referred to in Directive 2000/60/EC. Where Member States are required to assess the impacts of existing and future activities on the marine environment, including land-sea interactions, in accordance with Article 4 of Directive 2014/89/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council23 , the combined assessment shall also cover those impacts.

2. Where plans including provisions for the development of strategic projects are subject to an assessment pursuant to Directive 2001/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and pursuant to Article 6(3) of Directive 92/43/EEC, those assessments shall be combined. Where applicable, the combined assessment shall also address the impact on potentially affected water bodies referred to in Directive 2000/60/EC. Where Member States are required to assess the impacts of existing and future activities on the marine environment, including land-sea interactions, in accordance with Article 4 of Directive 2014/89/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council23, the combined assessment shall also cover those impacts. The fact that assessments are combined pursuant to this paragraph shall not affect their content or quality.

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23 Directive 2014/89/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2014/89/oj July 2014 establishing a framework for maritime spatial planning (OJ L 257, 28.8.2014, p. 135, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2014/89/oj).

Or. en

Amendment 12

Proposal for a regulation

Article 14 – paragraph 2

Text proposed by the Commission

Amendment

2. All decisions adopted pursuant to the Articles in this section shall be made publicly available.

2. All decisions adopted pursuant to the Articles in this section shall be made publicly available in an easily understandable manner and all decisions concerning one project shall be available on the same website.

Or. en

ANNEX: DECLARATION OF INPUT

Pursuant to Article 8 of Annex I to the Rules of Procedure, the rapporteur for opinion declares that he included in his draft opinion input on matters pertaining to the subject of the file that he received, in the preparation of the draft opinion, from the following interest representatives falling within the scope of the Interinstitutional Agreement on a mandatory transparency register, or from the following representatives of public authorities of third countries, including their diplomatic missions and embassies:

1. Interest representatives falling within the scope of the Interinstitutional Agreement on a mandatory transparency register

Federchimica

Farmindustria

Menarini

2. Representatives of public authorities of third countries, including their diplomatic missions and embassies

The list above is drawn up under the exclusive responsibility of the rapporteur for opinion.

Where natural persons are identified in the list by their name, by their function or by both, the rapporteur for opinion declares that he has submitted to the natural persons concerned the European Parliament's Data Protection Notice No 484 (https://www.europarl.europa.eu/data-protect/index.do), which sets out the conditions applicable to the processing of their personal data and the rights linked to that processing.