Volby nové Evropské komise

Press Release
09 February 2010

EDMA welcomes Parliament vote on new Commission

EDMA, the European Diagnostic Manufacturers Association, welcomes this afternoon’s vote by the European Parliament on the new European Commission. The vote, which took place in Strasbourg, saw MEPs elect a Commissioner from each of the EU Member States with 488 votes in favour, 137 against and 72 abstentions. The work of the new Commission, under President José Manuel Barroso, will begin tomorrow, 10 February.
The “Barroso II” Commission holds a number of important changes for EDMA. The new Commissioner for Health and Consumers, John Dalli, is a former Maltese Minister and MP, with a background in health and social affairs. He impressed MEPs in his January hearing before the European Parliament’s Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, and showed confidence and familiarity with the topics he will face throughout his mandate. In his hearing, he made clear that his work would focus on the idea that “prevention is better than cure”.
In previous Commissions, the work of the In Vitro Diagnostic industry came under the remit of the European Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry. With the restructuring of the Commission, EDMA will be affected by the move of the Cosmetics and Medical Devices Unit from DG Enterprise and Industry to DG Health and Consumers, and thus under the portfolio of Commissioner Dalli.
Christine Tarrajat, EDMA Director General, commented that EDMA looks forward to a fruitful cooperation with the Commission over the next five years, especially in light of the recent outcome of the “Exploratory Process on the Future of the Medical Devices Sector”.

Background:
EDMA, the European Diagnostic Manufacturers Association, represents National Associations and major companies engaged in the research, development, manufacture or distribution of In Vitro Diagnostic (IVD) products in Europe. Through its affiliated National Associations, EDMA represents in total more than 500 companies (or over 700 legal entities) across Europe. The mission of EDMA is to raise awareness of the importance, usefulness and added value that diagnostic information can provide to healthcare. For this purpose, EDMA cooperates with European institutions, patient groups, trade associations, health professionals and academia to support an appropriate regulatory system, to work towards a realistic economic environment for healthcare in Europe and to be an effective voice in globalisation.