Trade Bill — House of Lords, 2019-02-04
Topic: Health
Jeremy Purvis (Liberal Democrats, Centre to centre-left): My Lords, I shall speak also to Amendment 68. These are probing amendments the purpose of which is to seek clarity not only about the Government’s intentions towards negotiations on the future relationship with the EU, but about the Bill and Clause 6 in particular Since Committee started we have seen one tangible example of what leaving the European Union means, because it also means that many European Union institutions are leaving the United Kingdom. When the flags were lowered and folded at the EMA headquarters last week, the director of the Wellcome Trust said that it was: "A very sad day for the UK, a great day for the Netherlands", where the EMA will now have its temporary headquarters. I am fully aware that, in advance of our discussing this amendment today, many decisions have already been made at the EMA. I am also aware that, if we are leaving the European Union, our membership of EU institutions gives rise to significant complexities. However, that does not alter the fact that membership of the EMA is imperative to the United Kingdom’s medicines industry, our patients and consumers of pharmaceuticals The EMA is essential to the functioning of the single market for medicines in the EU, and the UK played a pivotal role in that process, not just in hosting the EMA for 23 years but also through the contribution of our scientists and researchers and our regulatory expertise. The agency’s work is vital and will continue to be so, providing EU citizens with effective, safe and high-quality medicines and maintaining a regulatory environment that fosters innovation and development of new medicines. It is vital that the UK continues to have a relationship, and my amendments seek clarity on how the Government see that relationship. We know that we are no longer able to engage as co-rapporteurs for new marketing authorisations applications—this will end regardless of what happens on 29 March 2019, agreement or no agreement. The only way we can stop this is if we continue our membership of the European Union, which is by far the most preferable of all the options, but on the basis that that will not happen, we also know that from March onwards the UK’s position will be considerably weaker Last April, the EU 27 completed the redistribution of the UK’s portfolio of more than 370 centrally authorised products to rapporteurs from the EU 27 plus Iceland and Norway. We know that significant damage has already been done. To put this in context, more than 40 million pharmaceutical packages are exported from the UK to the European Union every month, and more than 30 million are imported into the UK from the European Union. The UK pharmaceutical industry is integrated into the regulatory regime of the European Union, and separating this out has been a very painful process. The question remains: what will the relationship be going forward Paragraph 24 of the political declaration states—assuming this is still the Government’s position— the following: "The Parties will also explore the possibility of cooperation of United Kingdom authorities with Union agencies such as the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the European Chemicals Agency (ECA), and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)" What do the Government mean by co-operation? The Bill says—at the moment—that the Government should, "take all necessary steps … to fully participate … in the European medicines regulatory network" It is for the Government to explain the disparity between the two. Why does the political declaration say simply, "explore the possibility of cooperation", when the Bill says that the Government’s objective is full participation in the regulatory network? Why the disparity in language? Was this on the insistence of the European Union, or because the Government did not do what the House of Commons instructed it to do, taking a much stronger position in the Bill, with full participation as their intention?