EU PERSPECTIVES - Europe's crisis response system is up for its biggest overhaul in years—but MEPs cannot agree on how far to go. At a joint committee meeting on 24 March, lawmakers clashed over a proposed €10.7 billion budget, the expanding role of the military in civil protection, and how much authority Brussels should hold when disasters strike....

EURACTIV - Brain health is rising on the EU policy agenda, but early discussions risk narrowing the focus to neurodegenerative diseases, leaving other high-burden conditions such as epilepsy underrepresented. Read more

EU PERSPECTIVES - EU negotiators have a plan for talks on the Critical Medicines Act: agree on the 'easy stuff' first. Scope and definitions are being hashed out before the real battles begin — joint procurement, redistribution, and European preference remain untouched for now. The sequencing is deliberate, and the hard fights are coming. Read more...

EURACTIV - A Belgian biotech company says it is advancing a novel approach to one of the world's most dangerous drug‑resistant pathogens, as the World Health Organization issues new target product profiles for urgently needed antibiotics. Read more

EU PERSPECTIVES - A medicine approved in Brussels can take years to reach patients in Warsaw or Bucharest. A long-awaited compromise on the EU's pharmaceutical reform aims to narrow the gap between regulatory approval and patient access across the bloc, with new rules on medicine launch obligations and a revised incentive for...

EU PERSPECTIVES - Europe risks falling behind in health innovation as policymaking struggles to match the speed of global shocks. The continent's regulatory culture, while rooted in good intentions, may be costing it ground in the global race for life sciences and biotechnology. That is the view of Lutz Dommel, CEO of RPP Group, speaking at...

EURACTIV - Belgian biopharmaceutical company UCB has signed a global licensing deal with China's Antengene for an experimental immunology therapy, highlighting how Western drugmakers are increasingly sourcing early-stage innovation from China's rapidly expanding biotech sector. Read more

EURACTIV - Belgium has unveiled its Rare Diseases Plan 2026–2030, backing the strategy with €4 million annually for structural reforms and €25 million to support early access to orphan medicines. Read more

EU PERSPECTIVES - Europe's Beating Cancer Plan (EBCP) risks outliving the budget that finances it. That is the central warning from the European Court of Auditors. Read more

EU PERSPECTIVES - The EU is promising to speed up the approval of medical devices. For innovative companies, this could mean less waiting and greater certainty. Or perhaps not. "When you start the certification process now, you don't know what to expect. It can take two years or even more. That is killing the market opportunities," says...