The work of the Parliament goes a long way towards establishing a suitable basis for long-term cooperation on HTA, although there is still room for improvement, specifically as regards Member States’ flexibility to complement joint clinical assessments and the scope of the regulation covering medical devices (see our position on HTA and our statement on medical devices).

The introduction of a qualified majority vote in the Coordination group by the Parliament should answer one of the concerns of some larger Member States. We believe that this constitutes a good basis for progress to be made within the Council.

ESIP therefore calls on the Council to increase its efforts to reach a balanced compromise, taking account the work of the European Parliament, so that an effective framework for EU cooperation on HTA can be put in place as soon as possible.