One assessment, 27 countries: how EU joint reviews work

For the past 20 months the European Union has been running a single, shared review of the evidence behind certain new medicines, replacing part of the work that 27 countries used to do separately. The system began operating on 12 January 2025. It published its first finished report in June 2026, and three more have followed since.

The exercise is called a joint clinical assessment. A team of national experts examines a company's trial data and describes how well the medicine works, and how safely, compared with the treatments already in use across Europe. The result is a single technical report that every country can draw on.